The Casket in the Field
by Fiddle-faddle
Summary: When they connect a new case to an old foe, how will Booth and Brennan handle his reapperance? Will they be able to? This is pre-season 3 finale; Zach is still around. Read and review!
1. The First Victim

_Alright guys, I've got another one. this is a chapter fic. My first longer than oneshot. Hopefully it goes well. My senior year is extremely hectic, but I won't leave this story behind. Not only do I have to worry about college stuff, but then I still have all my school work and then the ACT and SAT stuff. Senior year is fun - really. Anyway, I have an entire plan for this story and I am working on it. This has not been proof read by anyone other than me. My proof-reader is also in the middle of her senoir year._

_Just some info about this story. This is pre-season 3 finale. Zach is still around. Otherwise there really is not much of a timeline._

_Now on to the feature presentation!_

_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_

_Chapter 1: The First Victim _

Special Agent Seeley Booth parked his FBI standard issue SUV and got out. Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian, grabbed her bag and followed him. Neither of them knew exactly what they were dealing with except that there was a casket found on a construction site. As they walked up they observed their surroundings. The construction site was big and only about half had been bulldozed the rest was still as it was before: a big empty field. There was a trailer nearby that served as the "office" for all the higher up people on the food chain, higher than construction workers. There was five or six construction machines scattered on the site. Two of them were backhoes, the rest bulldozers. All of them had been stopped with a couple of men milling around each except one.

This particular one was taped off with a single cop standing guard and two men standing several yards away. The bulldozer had obviously hit something. That something, that looked to be the uncovered casket, was tilted slightly with the end the bulldozer had hit higher than the rest. The other side of the casket, however, was still covered by grass. This discovery appeared to have been made on the bulldozer's first time over that particular spot.

All of a sudden three men burst out of the trailer. One was obviously a local law enforcement officer in his uniform. Another was probably a contractor or some other higher up in the construction business. The third was a mystery but Brennan assumed him to be another construction higher up.

The officer walked up to Booth and Brennan. Before he could say anything, though, Booth introduced them.

"Special Agent Booth," he told the three men showing them his badge; "This is Dr. Brennan from the Jeffersonian."

"Officer Wilkins," the officer responded. He looked to be in his mid- to late thirties and a seasoned officer of the law. He was not fazed by the two men following him like lost puppies only with slightly more annoyed expressions on their faces. Wilkins was a tall man and more on the lanky side of the scale than robust. He motioned to the two men following him, but did not look at them. "This is the general contractor, Mark Decker and his lawyer, Joe Stolan."

Mark Decker was obviously the contractor. In his hand he had forgotten blueprints of some kind. He was wearing jeans that were ripped out of use not bought for double what not ripped jeans were worth not ripped and filthy work boots. On top, however, he had on a nice polo shirt. The effect was that he looked liked he dressed in the dark, but he probably did that so he could look somewhat nice yet be able to walk on the construction site without ruining all his clothes. Joe Stolan, on the other hand, looked nothing like a lawyer. He looked like he had come straight from a frat party. He was wearing jeans that not only had more holes than material but looked like they had not been washed in months. He had on a t-shirt that advertised Corona beer. Both men nodded when introduced.

"I really need to get this taken care of quickly," said Mark Decker, "We're on a tight schedule."

Booth replied, "It will take as long as it needs to." Booth then turned and looked questioningly at Joe Stolan.

"I'm just here to make sure that my client's rights are not violated in anyway."

"Okay," said Booth thinking it was a little early to be bringing in a lawyer but turned to Wilkins and said, "Lead the way, Officer."

Wilkins turned and led the way to the taped off bulldozer. As they got closer they could see the casket better. Some of the dirt had been wiped off and the color of the casket was evident. Black. It looked to have a few carvings on it but did not appear to be worth a lot.

"Where's the nearest cemetery?" asked Brennan as she ducked under the tape with Booth following on her heels.

Wilkins paused to think before saying, "More than twenty miles."

"So there's no way this should be here," asked Booth, "not even by accident."

"I don't think that a casket can get somewhere by itself or be accidentally left here so definitely not," replied Wilkins, ducking under the tape but opting to stay on the perimeter.

Brennan walked up to the partially uncovered coffin. She pulled on gloves and set her bag down on the ground next to her. Booth stood behind her, notebook in hand; he was ready to take notes on what Brennan is going to tell him.

She brushed off some of the dirt, "This is not a very expensive coffin. One of the cheaper ones to imitate a pricier one."

Brennan looked around for any sign that the coffin had been disturbed before the bulldozer dug it up. There were no obvious ones. She carefully used a shovel and brush to completely uncover the coffin. Then she moved to open the lid. Before everyone had been looking but not really seeing however when they noticed this everyone leaned forward to try and get a glimpse of what was inside. As carefully as she could Brennan pried the lid up and looked inside.

Lying in the casket was a full body. The body was not laid as if put in there already dead. It was almost in the fetal position but the coffin was too thin for the victim to get completely curled. The soft tissue was completely dehydrated. Some of the clothing was still in place although it was partially rotted. Brennan began her analysis.

"Caucasian. Female. Late twenties, early thirties. No visual signs of trauma."

"How long has she been out here?" asked Booth.

"More than five years. Probably closer to ten," Brennan answered. To the contractor she asked, "How long have you been working on this property?"

"About two months."

"You've been bulldozing for two months?" asked Booth incredulously.

"We got delayed two weeks in, lost a month and half's work because of a complaint."

"What was here before?" asked Brennan.

"A big empty field, I think."

"Well, let's get her back to the lab," said Brennan standing up and pulling off her gloves.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Brennan and Zach were leaned over the table, examining the coffin remains, taking note of any anomalies or abnormalities. Cam and Booth were watching. There really was not much for either of them to do yet. Booth tried to talk to the property owner only to be met with a secretary informing him that Mr. Roberts was on a flight home from Europe and he would call back tomorrow. There just was not enough tissue left for Cam. Hodgins was examining, well, dirt, bugs, and the remaining clothing and Angela was trying to get an ID from dental records.

"Childhood tibia break," said Zach.

Brennan took a look, "Probably from falling off a bike. If Angela can't get an ID from dentals, this will help."

Brennan went back to examining the upper body.

"Hodgins, any word on a more definite time of death?" asked Booth impatiently.

"Yeah, I would say she's been dead for approximately ten years," replied Hodgins without looking up from his microscope.

"What's this?" asked Brennan, magnifying the victim's neck on the screen. Before she got a chance to really look at it, Angela came up onto the platform, "I got an ID."

Everyone turned to face her. She opened the folder and began reading, "Laura Walker. Twenty-nine. Lived just outside of Bethesda, Maryland. Went missing May 9, 1998. Her car was found in the parking garage at the mall where she had just been with her friends and . . . oh, no . . ."

"What?" asked Hodgins, moving towards her.

Angela looked back and forth between Hodgins and Brennan before finally saying, "She was taken by the Gravedigger."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_So, I hope you enjoyed it and reviewing would be awesome._


	2. Through the Garage

Hey guys. Here is the next chapter. Again, I'm the only person to proofread, but I think it is okay. I would love a review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Happy Reading!

_Angela came up onto the platform, "I got an ID."_

_Everyone turned to face her. She opened the folder and began reading, "Laura Walker. Twenty-nine. Lived just outside of Bethesda, Maryland. Went missing May 9, 1998. Her car was found in the parking garage at the mall where she had just been with her friends and . . . oh, no . . ."_

"_What?" asked Hodgins, moving towards her. _

_Angela looked back and forth between Hodgins and Brennan before finally saying, "She was taken by the Gravedigger." _

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_Chapter 2: Through the Garage _

"Alright, I don't want anyone to go out alone. Don't leave the lab alone and definitely do not go into the parking garage for any reason," said Booth after Angela's bombshell. He turned to Brennan, "I especially don't want you out alone. He snatched you last time, he could try it again."

"But –," Brennan tried to interject.

"No!" exclaimed Booth, he looked at Cam, "I want you to double security."

Cam nodded her head.

Hodgins looked at Booth; he had his arm around Angela and was probably squeezing a little too tight for comfort, but Angela didn't seem to notice, "We'll catch him this time."

"Of course we will," said Booth, "I'm going to pull out all the other files. We'll look through them again. You guys keep working here."

Brennan stopped him with a hand on his arm, "If it's not safe for us to out alone, why do you think that you are okay?"

"I'm an FBI special agent and an army-trained former sniper. I think I can take care of myself."

"I'm a black belt in three different types of martial arts, I have a gun, that does happen to be larger than yours, and I still got taken without a struggle."

Booth sighed, "Alright, come on."

"What? I didn't mean me! I have work to do."

"No, you're completely right, I'm not much better off than any of you. So, let's go."

Booth grabbed Brennan's arm and dragged her of the platform with him. They got to the door and something occurred to Brennan, "Where did you park your car?"

"Um, the garage," replied Booth. He turned to look at her and asked, "You?"

"The same."

"Well . . ."

"We could probably walk through the garage this time. The story hasn't hit the news yet so it's logical to think the Gravedigger has yet to hear that we found his last victim."

Even with Brennan's logical analysis of the situation both Brennan and Booth stood just inside the door, hesitating. Both knew that Brennan was more than likely right but each had an illogical fear of the parking garage. Last time they went after the Gravedigger Brennan and Hodgins ended up underground fighting to survive long enough for Booth and the rest of the Squints to find them.

Booth sighed and finally said, "Okay, well, let's go. But be careful and alert."

Booth and Brennan walked out the door and into the parking garage carefully. Booth was parked on the second level and neither even made a move to the elevator, both heading straight for the stairs. They pushed open the door and quietly tip-toed up the stairs. About half-way up the stairs Booth's hand wandered to rest on his gun. Brennan pushed the door open and peeked outside. Across the lot sat Booth's car.

"You had to park as far away from the stairs as possible, didn't you?" asked Brennan looking back at him.

"Well, I hadn't expected to suddenly get a fear of parking garages in the short time I was parked there."

Brennan began to make her way across the lot to the car. Booth followed behind, eyes scanning the garage, looking for any sign of movement. Booth's gun was now out of its holster and in his hand, at his side. They were halfway across the lot when a car honked on the street below. Both Brennan and Booth jumped. Brennan's hand ventured into her purse and she gripped her gun before pulling it out and holding it at her side.

"You still have that thing?" whispered Booth, seeing that it was the same large gun that she could not control in previous times.

"I've been practicing. I'm a much better shot now," replied Brennan, her voice so quiet Booth had to strain to hear it.

They were almost to the car when Booth reached into his pocket, pulled out his keys, and unlocked the doors. Both of them now had their guns up in two hands, ready to shoot.

They got to the SUV and hurried to their respective doors and jumped in. As soon as the doors closed, Booth hit the locks. They both sighed in relief, relaxed against their seats, and put away their guns.

"See, he wasn't waiting for us," said Brennan matter-of-factly.

Booth looked at her. "When we get back, I'm parking in the lot outside."

"Good idea," Brennan agreed.

Booth turned the key, the engine caught, and he drove out of the lot.

Twenty minutes later, Brennan and Booth walked into Booth's office. Booth had sent another agent to get the original files while he and Brennan reviewed the two files Booth had in his office: the Kent brothers and Brennan and Hodgins'. Both of them recognized all the information because of reading the files so much.

After ten minutes of reading quietly an agent came in with a stack of files and said, "The files you requested, Booth."

"Thank you, Charlie," said Booth taking the files from him.

Charlie walked out of the office and Booth set down the files on his desk. Brennan picked up the top file and Booth picked up the next one. Neither opened their file.

"We should get the evidence transferred over to the Jeffersonian," said Brennan suddenly.

"Already taken care of, Bones," said Booth. He stood, "We should head back."

"Yeah, let's go."

Booth was gathering the files when an agent walked in and announced a visitor had arrived to see Booth. Booth set down the files, looked at Brennan, and looked at the agent standing in the doorway before nodding his head. The agent walked out quickly and Booth and Brennan sat down again, Booth behind his desk, Brennan in one of the visitor chairs. The agent walked back into the office, followed by a familiar face: not someone Booth was exactly happy to see.

"Mr. Vega," said Booth, "How can I help you?"

Thomas Vega stepped farther into the office, "I heard you found the last Gravedigger victim."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Jeanine still has connections with several news stations. They heard about the casket found and I thought it followed the pattern and timeline. Turns out I was right."

"Speaking of Jeanine, where is she?"

"She couldn't make it. Prior engagement."

"That's unfortunate," said Booth without a trace of disappointment in his voice.

"Why are you here, Mr. Vega?" asked Brennan quickly, "We have someplace we need to be."

Vega looked at her, "Glad to see no lasting effects from your ordeal with the Gravedigger."

Brennan just looked at him.

"I really wish you had granted me an interview for the addition to my book, Dr. Brennan."

"Why would I want to contribute to your exploitation of crime as entertainment?"

"Never mind. I came to offer my help again."

Brennan and Booth just looked at him.

"I know we didn't exactly get along last time but that was because of circumstances beyond my control," he continued, when he got no response he said, "Once again, I'm still going to try and help you because, again, I want this bastard caught."

"Looking forward to it," said Booth. He picked up the Gravedigger files again and said, "I'm glad we had this little chat but now we really have someplace we need to be."

Booth breezed past Vega, closely followed by Brennan. When they were safely in the elevator Brennan looked at Booth and said, "You really don't like him do you?"

"No."

"Did something happen?"

"You and Hodgins were taken," Booth said sharply. The elevator door dinged and he said, "Let's go, Bones."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Review! You know you want to.


	3. Reading Files

_Hey guys! I'm so sorry it ahd been so long since I have updated. I promised myself I would not let that happen but then senoir year got in the way. But last night I officially finished my applications so I'm celebrating by posting another chapter. Also, special thanks to xBoothLoverx for getting me motivated to post again. Happy Reading!_

_Chapter 3: Reading Files_

Booth and Brennan walked into the lab slightly out of breath. Brennan led the way to her office. She opened the door, walked over to her desk, and set down the stack of files she was carrying, "Why did you park so far away?"

Booth set down his slightly larger stack of files on the couch, flopped down next to them and said, "Well, I didn't want to park in the garage – which you agreed with –and all the closer spots were reserved."

"You're an FBI agent! Can't you park anywhere?"

"Only in emergencies."

There was a long pause while Booth stared at his shoes and Brennan settled herself in her chair, taking more care with getting herself settled. Neither really wanted to do the task ahead. Finally when Brennan could no longer stand squirming in her chair and Booth was becoming slightly disgusted with the amount of grime on his shoes, Brennan said, "I think we should start looking over these files again." She promptly pulled the top file, opened it, and started reading.

Booth looked at her, amazed that she could just buckle down and get to work like that. Then again all the victims she was reading about were not people she knew. Booth knew that on the top of his stack was the file on the Gravedigger's seventh victims: Dr. Temperance Brennan and Dr. Jack Hodgins. He knew he could just skip this file and move on to the next, but if he put it off for too long it would only get harder to read. He knew, he read this file a few dozen times in the year since Brennan and Hodgins had been taken, each time it had been equally difficult.

Booth looked at the file and then turned his gaze to Brennan. He shrugged his shoulders, _Might as well get this over with_. Booth sighed and pulled the file off the stack. He opened it, sighed again, and tried to focus on the printed words on the page.

Booth only managed to get through about a page of information before they were interrupted by Hodgins coming in and announced, "All the evidence has arrived."

Booth sighed in relief. He was having trouble stringing all the words together. Reading that file was really hard today because it wasn't that far off to think that it could happen again, especially since they had found the only missing victim. He set down the file as he stood up and followed Brennan and Hodgins out to the garage. There they had all the containers the victims were found in with the clothes the victims were wearing when they were taken. There were two boxes sitting next to the containers which held miscellaneous evidence including the piece of bumper sticker from Hodgins leg.

The car that Brennan and Hodgins were found in was sitting a little ways away. Both Brennan and Hodgins eyes wondered to it and they stiffened. Angela came up behind Hodgins and seeing he needed a distraction asked about dinner. He looked at the car for another moment before allowing himself to be led away by Angela. Brennan didn't seem to notice.

Booth was watching Brennan and Hodgins. When Angela led Hodgins away, Booth turned to Brennan, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Bones."

Brennan jumped a little before saying, "Hodgins should look at each of the victims' clothes again. See if there is any other trace evidence he may not have had a chance to have collected last time."

Even with Brennan's logical get down to business response, Booth noticed that Brennan's eyes had not left the car that was her prison for over twelve hours. He had tried to get her attention without prying her away from the evidence but seeing that it wasn't working he gently pulled her in the direction of the door and said, "Bones, let's go get something to eat."

"But the evidence and –," she finally took her eyes of the car and looked at Booth, "We have to catch him, Booth."

Booth squeezed her arm and said, "We will, Bones, we will."

He pulled her into him and gave her a hug. She wrapped her arms around him as he put his arms around her in a protective embrace. Brennan felt safe. She felt safe for the first time since they discovered Laura Walker and her murderer.

They stood like that for only a few moments before Booth pulled back a little and said, "So how about that dinner?"

Brennan smiled, "Okay."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Half an hour later they were seated in a booth by the window at the diner. They had brought several Gravedigger files; they excluded Brennan and Hodgins' file. They sat quietly and read the files while they waited for their food to arrive. After they were served and their coffee cups were refilled they discussed what they had just read.

Ten minutes after the food had arrived, Booth had both his and Brennan's plate in his hands while Brennan looked for an elusive file that they wanted to consult. The files were spread out on the table and every time Brennan moved a file, two more changed positions, making it difficult to figure out which files she had already looked at. Booth's phone rang, "Uh, Bones," Booth said holding out her plate, "Could you?"

Brennan did not even look up, "It can go to voicemail."

Booth tensed and cleared his throat as the phone stopped ringing. Brennan, noticing this, looked up, "What?"

"Well, that's what Cam said when I, uh, got your call," said Booth a little nervously.

Brennan grabbed both plates out of Booth's hands and said quickly, "You should check your voicemail."

Booth took a deep breath before reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone, and calling his voicemail. He listened to the relatively short message before hanging up the phone and sighing in relief.

"That was Zach, he has something," said Booth.

Brennan put down their plates. They had only gotten about halfway through their meal but neither was very hungry anymore. They each pulled a stack of files out from under the mess of plates and silverware. Booth put down several bills while Brennan searched her bag. Booth stopped her, "It's on me."

Brennan nodded and walked out the door. Booth followed close behind. When they got to the car, Booth had to search his pockets for his keys. Brennan found them in her bag. "They must have fallen of the table into my bag," Brennan said shrugging.

Booth just looked at her, not believing a word of it.

"Okay, maybe I helped them fallen into my bag."

Booth rolled his eyes and held out his hand for the keys, still not saying a word. She held out the keys to him and let him grab them but did not let them go. He knew what she wanted.

"Booth, I want to drive."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Look I know that you are the alpha male in this partnership but once in a while, you should let me drive."

"Alright, fine. You can drive, but only this once. Don't get used to it," Booth said, but Brennan had already taken the keys from his hand and gotten in the SUV.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_That's all for this time. I am going to try really hard to post again soon! Leave a review; I would really appreciate it._


	4. Connections and Differences

_So this time it only took me two weeks to update. I'm getting better, but still not great. This chapter is not really exciting again, but we have to get some slow chapters through so that we can get to the exciting stuff. So, I hope you enjoy and if I do not update again in the next week, happy holidays! I hope you guys have an awesome holiday season. Well, I hope you enjoy. Happy Reading!_

_Chapter 4: Connections and Differences _

Brennan pulled up to the lab and parked in a reserved spot close to the door. She pulled the keys and opened the door to get out. Booth's voice stopped her, "Are you allowed to park here?"

"Well, technically, no. But this is Dr. Goodman's parking spot and he is on a two month sabbatical. Again. He's been going on a lot lately," said Brennan. Seeing Booth's unconvinced face, she continued, "He's not due back for another three weeks."

"Okay, whatever," said Booth getting out of the car, wishing she had told him this before he had parked, what seemed like, ten miles away. Then he remembered her car, stuck in the garage until this case was solved because nobody wanted to get it. "Why didn't you park here today, with your own car?"

"I was distracted and not really paying attention and forgot that this spot was open. I remembered when I got a sudden phobia of parking garages and realized that my car didn't have to be in one."

"You know it's dangerous to be distracted while driving," was Booth's only response. Brennan rolled her eyes and stepped out of the car.

Booth opened the back door and grabbed the stack of files they had taken to the diner with them. When he closed and locked the door and turned to follow Brennan, he saw that she was already halfway to the door. He ran as best he could with the files in his arms and called, "Hey, Bones. Wait for me!"

Brennan did not even turn around. When she got to the door she stopped and turned to wait for him. When he saw this he slowed from his ungainly run to a more graceful walk. Brennan stood at the door, a smile teasing her lips, while Booth walked across the grass. When he hit the sidewalk, his shoe caught the edge of the concrete and he tried desperately to keep all of the files in his hands and completely organized _and_ keep his balance. Brennan took a step forward to help, but he had already regained his balance and thrown a smile in her direction. Brennan opened the door for him and they walked into the lab together.

They took a pit stop at Brennan's office to drop of the files and for Brennan to grab her lab coat before making their way up the platform where Zach was waiting for them.

"Dr. Brennan, I found something."

He led her over to the remains and pointed to the screen next to the skull where part of the remains had been magnified. Brennan walked right up to the screen and leaned in to take a closer look. She pressed a few keys on the keyboard and leaned back.

Booth, deciding it was time that he was clued in, asked, "What exactly are we looking at?"

"See this on the artic-," started Brennan. She was interrupted by Booth clearing his throat. She paused for a moment before continuing and trying to make her statements simpler, "We're basically looking at the back of the neck. See this and this," Brennan pointed to two discolorations on the screen, "These are bone burns. Similar to the ones found on all the other victims."

"Only it does not look like the stun gun was modified in the same way as for the others," said Zach, "The burns are much smaller and less pronounced. The stun gun that made these burns did not have as much power as the stun gun that was used for later attacks."

"So what you are saying is that on his first victim he used a different stun gun?" asked Booth, trying to get the gist of it.

"At least it was not modified in the same way," said Brennan, "Good work, Zach."

"There's something else," said Zach. Brennan and Booth had already turned around. When they heard Zach, they looked at each other before turning around to see what it was Zach had not told them yet.

Zach moved the magnifier from the neck to the frontal bone. He adjusted magnification and looked up, "I found this after we cleaned the bones."

Zach pointed to the screen. Once again Brennan leaned in to get a closer look. She looked for a minute before turning her attention to the actual bone. She looked up at Zach and said, "Looks like a hairline fracture to the frontal bone as a result of a single blow to the head."

"Yes," Zach said, "And I think the Gravedigger did it."

Booth jumped in at this point, "Why do you say that?"

"Because it happened within a day of her death, there is almost no remodeling, and there is no way she could have done this herself in the casket. I had Angela run through some scenarios. There is also no record of her sustaining an injury like this within a week of her death."

"Why would the Gravedigger -," started Brennan before realization dawned on her, "Oh, the stun gun wasn't as strong. She would have regained consciousness sooner."

Zach nodded but Booth still looked the slightest bit confused, "So?"

"So there is a distinct possibility that she could have regained conscious before she was buried. Maybe in transport or while the Gravedigger dug the grave," said Brennan, "The Gravedigger hit her with something because the stun gun was probably out of reach or put away."

"Oh."

"Great work, Zach," said Brennan. Before turning away she asked, "Anything else?"

Zach shook his head and said, "Thanks, Dr. Brennan."

Zach bent down over the remains again. Brennan and Booth turned away and walked down off the platform and to Brennan's office. They hoped that maybe they would get to read the files uninterrupted this time. As they walked they could see Hodgins hunched over his workstation with Angela standing next to him. Angela was listening to something he was saying and by the look on her face it was probably one of his many conspiracy theories. Cam was standing next to one of the many machines in the lab. She was alternating between staring at it and at her watch. They deduced from that behavior that she was waiting for results.

Brennan led the way into her office, waited while Booth walked in, and closed the door, hoping to limit disruptions. She sat down next to Booth on the couch and pulled a file. It was the Kent brothers. She sighed a little before opening it and starting to read. Booth was more reluctant because he knew the file that was waiting for him and was less thrilled about it than he had been several hours earlier. He picked it up and stared at the front of it for a minute before opening it. _May as well get this over with,_ he thought and had a distinct feeling of déjà vu. He opened the file and read the written copy of the message he received from the Gravedigger informing him of his nightmare's beginning. While Booth and Brennan tried to focus on the files in the back of both their minds, neither could help wondering what would happen next. All they could do was wait and see.

_Well, guys, I hope that you enjoyed it. I swear it will get more interesting soon. Please leave a review. I love reviews._


	5. Leaving the Lab

_Hey guys, I was feeling motivated and decided to update again. I know, shocking. Anyway, same stuff as usual. Read and review. I hope you enjoy. Happy Reading!_

_Chapter 5: Leaving the Lab_

Booth and Brennan took several hours to carefully read through all of the files on all seven Gravedigger victims. They had set up a dry erase board and posted any connections or abnormalities on it. It was full of information. They had pictures of crime scenes and victims, copies of all the transcribed Gravedigger messages, and other tidbits of information that could be important. Booth was staring at the picture of the uncovered car still in the hole. The windshield was blown out and there was dirt everywhere. The angle of the picture showed the two front seats with blood visible on both seats with a mess of pens on the passenger one. Seeing this picture took Booth back to that day. He could feel the dirt all over him, in his hair and underneath his fingernails. He could smell the explosives Brennan used to get out. He saw the hand reaching for something to grasp.

Booth blinked and turned away suddenly. He looked at his watch. 9:00. It was probably time to call it a day. He looked at Brennan. She was looking at pictures of the bones of the Kent brothers but she was not really seeing them. He stood, "We should probably get going."

Brennan did not look up, "I can't. I have to find him. Besides my car is in the garage and I'm sure he's heard by now."

"I'll give you a ride. Besides I don't think you shouldn't be alone right now."

Brennan finally looked up, "What do you mean? 'I shouldn't be alone right now?'"

"I mean that maybe you should stay with me. Or I should stay with you."

"Booth, I don't need you to babysit me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Besides, the Gravedigger likes parking garages. My apartment doesn't have a parking garage."

"Yes, but once he figures out that were onto him with the whole parking garage thing, he might snatch you anyway he can," Booth seeing that he was doing nothing to persuade her, said, "Look, Bones, I'm staying with you whether you like it or not."

"Booth . . ."

"I know you can take care of yourself, but he got you last time. I don't want to risk you getting taken again."

Each stared defiantly at the other. Neither seemed willing to give up. They stood like that for several moments before they were interrupted by Hodgins, "Hey Brennan. Angela, Zach, and I are leaving."

Both Brennan and Booth turned towards Hodgins. Hodgins was standing in the doorway. He looked a little like a deer caught in headlights. Brennan and Booth had been glaring at each other and when Hodgins came in they turned their glares onto him. It took a minute but Brennan and Booth relaxed.

Brennan said, "You guys are still here?"

"Yeah," Hodgins replied, "I wanted to finish what I was doing."

"Your car isn't in the garage is it?" asked Booth.

"Actually . . . we were hoping the three of us could get through this time."

"Don't risk it," said Booth. He pulled out his cell and tossed it at Hodgins, "Call a cab."

"What about my car?"

"You can get it when this whole thing is over," said Booth.

Hodgins nodded and dialed the phone. Booth turned back to Brennan, "Look, I know you can take care of yourself and I know that you don't need me. I would just feel better if you weren't alone."

He gave her his 'charm' smile. "That's cheating," Brennan said. He just kept on smiling. "Fine," Brennan finally relented.

"Great, we'll just have to stop at my apartment so I can pick up some clothes and a toothbrush."

Hodgins came in and tossed Booth his phone back, "The cab should be here in ten minutes. You guys be careful."

Hodgins gave a meaningful look in Brennan's direction. Brennan nodded and said, "You too."

Hodgins walked out of Brennan's office. Booth picked up his suit jacket and stacked up the files neatly. They would not be taking them. Booth did not want to work when they left. He wanted them to be alert, not tired from staying up all night rereading files they've spent hours looking over already.

Brennan had been shutting down her computer and gathering her bag together. She slung it over her shoulder and went to grab some of the files. Booth laid a hand on top of the files, "These can wait until tomorrow."

Brennan looked at him a moment before conceding. She did not feel a need to argue with Booth again. She allowed him to lead her out of her office. They were walking past autopsy when Booth noticed a light. He stopped and peeked in. Cam was sitting on a stool staring a machine that was whirring away.

"Still here, Cam?" asked Booth.

She turned to look at him. She glanced back at the machine again and said, "I'm just waiting for the tox screen to finish up. It should take another twenty minutes or so and then I'll be leaving."

"Well don't stay to long and avoid parking garages. And do you have anyone you can stay with?" asked Booth.

"Don't worry about me Booth. My car is parked in a lot and I have some who will let me sleep over."

Booth nodded and ducked out of the room. Brennan was talking to Angela, Hodgins, and Zach. They were waiting just inside the door. Booth walked over to join them. As Booth walked up, Zach pointed out the window and said, "The cab's here."

They all looked at each other. Nobody wanted to say goodbye. No matter what they said it would seem like they were afraid it would be the last time they saw each other. Angela finally said, "We should not keep the cab waiting."

"Yeah, we should leave too," said Booth as he opened the door. Everyone filed out. Brennan and Booth went one direction while everyone else went the opposite way.

Brennan and Booth walked to the car. Booth looked at the windshield, half expecting a ticket or a note or something. Brennan smiled at him, "I told you, Dr. Goodman is gone. We can park here again tomorrow."

Booth shook his head and hopped in the front seat. Brennan was already in the passenger seat, waiting. Booth got in the front seat turned on the car and motored out of the parking lot towards his apartment.

They got there quickly. Booth led the way to his door and let her in, "Make yourself at home. I'll just be a minute."

Booth made his way to the bedroom and began pulling out clothes and stuffing them in a duffel bag. Brennan looked at all the pictures Booth had scattered around his apartment. There were pictures of his family and Parker. There were several of the team; most of them looked like they had been candidly shot. The one on the end was her favorite. It was taken last Halloween after they had tussled with the clown killing girls by scaring them to death. Booth's shirt was bloodstained and un-tucked. Brennan's hair was disheveled and she was smeared with dirt. They were laughing. Angela had taken it. She had gotten a copy also.

Booth came out and said, "I'm ready. Let's go."

Brennan took one last look at all the pictures before following Booth out of the apartment. They got into Booth's SUV. Booth pulled out and made his way to Brennan's apartment. When they got there, Brennan led the way to her door. She let them in and asked, "Do you want a drink?"

"Sure," said Booth setting down his bag. Brennan came back and handed Booth a beer before taking a sip from her own.

"The guest room is already made up."

"Thanks."

They sat on the couch and watched Brennan's new TV for a couple of hours before heading to bed. Brennan walked into her room and changed her into sweats. She sat down on her bed. She was pretty sure she wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.

_I hope you enjoyed. I swear the next chapter will be interesting. Once again, Happy Holidays and Happy Reading. Oh, and please leave a review._


	6. Letter from the Grave

_Well, guys, I apologize for taking so long to update this. It has been really crazy for the past couple of weeks. Anyway, this one really does not really have action, but there is some Booth-Brennan interaction. I hope that you guys enjoy._

_Chapter 6: Letter from the Grave_

Booth rolled over and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 2:37. He'd been sleeping for exactly . . . one hour and six minutes. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. This was the second time he'd woken up in the couple of hours he'd tried to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he was back when Brennan was taken. The only difference was that he wasn't able to get to her in time.

He stood up and stretched. He walked out of the room to the living room. He figured he could sit on the couch and watch TV until whatever he was watching lulled him to sleep. He stopped at the end of the hall. Brennan was sitting on the couch staring at her hands.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" asked Booth. Brennan jumped at the sound of his voice and looked at him.

"I could ask you the same thing," said Brennan.

"I couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same thing."

Booth walked around the couch and sat next to her on the couch. She was fiddling with a folded piece of paper.

"When Hodgins and I were underground, I always knew that you'd save us. But in the back of my mind there was always that possibility that you wouldn't make it in time," said Brennan hesitantly, staring at the paper in her hands. "Hodgins also had doubts but not so much as doubts in you. He had doubts in his ability to survive, especially when I opened his leg to release pressure."

"I understand your doubts, Bones. You don't have to feel bad about it," said Booth reassuringly. There was a pause. Finally Booth asked, "What's that?"

Brennan looked up at him, "When I cut Hodgins, we both knew that he could slip into shock and die. He couldn't leave without saying goodbye. He wrote a letter to Angela."

Booth nodded his head in understanding when Brennan paused.

She continued, "As I was setting up the explosives, Hodgins ripped out a page from my book, handed it to me, and asked if there was anyone I wanted to say goodbye to. This is the result."

Booth did not want to push but he couldn't help but ask, "Who was it to?"

Brennan still didn't look at him, "Well . . . you."

"Me?" Booth asked, genuinely surprised. He assumed it would be to her brother or Angela. True, they had gotten closer, but that was more recent. At that time he would define their relationship as friendship, but not a really close one. Sure they hung out together a lot, especially when one of them was having problems. They trusted each other as partners, but their friendship was not as important as her and Angela's, at least that was what he thought. Obviously he was wrong.

"Yeah, you," she said. She slowly unfolded it, "It basically says what I just told you. You know, it's ironic. The page that Hodgins handed me was the dedication page."

The paper was completely unfolded now and sure enough, he could read the dedication to him. Underneath was a hand scrawled note that was definitely Brennan's handwriting but messier. He didn't want to read it out of respect for her but it was difficult. It was not necessary though because a couple minutes later she handed it to him and said, "I've been holding onto this for some reason. Every time I think about the Gravedigger and what happened in that car I pull it out. I don't really know why. I don't want it anymore and since I wrote it to you I thought it would make sense to give it to you."

Booth took it but didn't start reading it. Brennan was still looking at the paper. She shook her head, "I think I'm going to bed. See if I can sleep."

Booth felt as if he should say something but didn't know what exactly to say. Brennan was standing and walking to her room before Booth stopped her, "Bones, I . . . thanks."

She had turned to look at him, "For what? You haven't even read the letter yet."

Booth hesitated before saying, "For thinking of me."

Brennan nodded and went back to her room. He sat on the couch. Now that he had the letter he suddenly didn't want to read it. It was definitely not something he was going to enjoy reading. It would pull up feelings in him that he didn't want to feel, nor did he understand. He shifted on the couch and glanced at the note. He noticed that it was covered in dirt and the creases were really worn before he quickly averted his eyes. He didn't know how long he sat there before he finally got the courage to read it. The ink was slightly faded but still easy to read. Brennan's message started right below the dedication.

_Booth,_

_We've been underground for more than twelve hours now. Hodgins and I have both worked to extend our air supply. Now, however we are going to try and blow our way out. We can't wait much longer. I know you are doing best to find us, but if you don't, please do not blame yourself and know that neither of us blame you either. I know you won't give up until you find us, but now is time for Hodgins and I to try and help ourselves._

_Lately you and I have been becoming better friends. I don't know why, but I completely trust you. I know it's illogical to put complete trust in someone, usually you are disappointed especially in my case, but I know you won't let me down._

_If you don't find us in time, try to get along with Zach and help him if he needs it. He may not know what to do with himself. Encourage him. Listen to Cam and tell her it had been an honor working with her even with our rocky start. Try to help Angela. She would be the one to get hit the hardest, she feels much more than Zach and knows us much better than Cam. Make sure she's okay._

_It's been an honor to work with you, also. I'm sorry I didn't get to help you balance your cosmic balance sheet, but I firmly believe that if I'm wrong and there is a heaven, you'll be let in without a problem. You are a great person and none of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself. Stay strong, and keep doing what you're doing. Put as many bad guys away as you can._

_Sincerely,_

_Temperance Brennan_

_Bones _

_Read and review! You know you want too._


	7. A Different Hair

_A/N: I am actually updating in a relatively short amount of time! I am so proud of myself. Well, here is the next chapter. Not a ton of excitement and I realize that I say that a lot, but I hope that I am not boring you. Happy reading!_

_Chapter 7: A Different Hair _

The next morning Booth woke up with a crick in his neck and his legs half hanging off the couch. Brennan's letter was on the floor. He had fallen asleep reading it again and again. He could hear Brennan banging around in the kitchen. He stood and stretch. His neck cracked, which made him flinch but the crick was gone. He walked into the kitchen. Brennan had her back to him, making coffee. When she turned she jumped back surprised, "Booth! Announce yourself or something," she paused, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long."

"Well, coffee will be done in a minute."

"Thanks."

"I'm going to take a shower. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen."

"Great."

Brennan walked out of the kitchen and a couple of minutes later he could hear the shower. He looked through Brennan's cabinets and the refrigerator. He settled on toast with jam. He poured himself a cup of coffee and settled at the table with the paper Brennan had set on the table.

On the front page was a story about finding the Gravedigger's first victim. It talked about the limited information the media had and then talked about the other Gravedigger victims, including Brennan and Hodgins. Booth only skimmed the article before moving on.

Fifteen minutes later Brennan joined him in the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and got a bagel. She sat down at the table and read the sections of the paper that Booth had already made it through. Only a couple minutes after Brennan sat down, Booth stood and said, "Now I'm going to take a shower."

"There are clean towels in the closet down the hall."

"Thanks."

Half an hour later Booth and Brennan were on the way to the lab. Both were ready to dive in to find the Gravedigger. It didn't take long to get to the lab. Booth decided to go with Brennan and park in Goodman's spot. They walked in the lab only to find that everyone else was already there and working. Booth and Brennan walked to Brennan's office so she could drop off her bag and put on her lab coat.

Booth followed Brennan up onto the platform. Zach was already examining the remains again. Hodgins was looking over the casket for any trace evidence. Angela was in her office working on something. Cam was in autopsy reading a file. Brennan joined Zach, "Anything new?"

"Well, I've noticed that there are many small fractures on her distal phalanges. I attributed that to her scraping the top of the casket, which would also explain why the material on the top of the casket was in tatters."

"Good work, Zach," said Brennan leaning over and looking closely at the distal phalanges and the other hand bones.

Booth was watching Hodgins examine the casket. Every once in a while he would stop and use tweezers to pick something of the casket and put it either in an evidence bag or on a Petri dish. He didn't seem to find anything exceedingly interesting. Booth could hear Brennan and Zach talking about the bones behind him, but since he couldn't understand he figured watching Hodgins was just as interesting. Suddenly he picked up something and smiled. He put it in an evidence bag and briskly walked up onto the platform.

"Guess what this is," said Hodgins, interrupting Brennan and Zach. Both turned to look at him. They were both silent, waiting. Hodgins stood there expectantly. Booth raised his eyebrows and gave Hodgins a dirty look. Hodgins immediately continued, "This is a hair."

Booth's look didn't change, "So?"

"Haven't you found lots of hairs in the casket? It would make sense that Laura Walker would have some hairs fall out. Especially if she was struggling," said Brennan uninterestedly.

"I have found lots of hairs in the casket. This particular hair is different."

Hodgins paused and this annoyed Booth even more. "What Hodgins?"

Hodgins quickly continued again, "Laura Walker was blond and she had long hair."

Again Hodgins paused for dramatic effect. Booth looked at him and said, "You never learn do you? You do a dramatic pause again and I will shoot you."

Hodgins got to the point, "This hair is short and dark."

Booth looked thoughtfully at Hodgins, "So it is not Laura Walker's hair."

"No."

"Good work, Hodgins," said Booth appreciatively.

Hodgins looked over at Zach, "King of the lab!"

Zach sighed and turned back to Laura Walker's remains. Hodgins went back down to continue his examination of the casket. Booth's phone rang. He answered as he followed Brennan to her office. The conversation was short and when they got back to Brennan's office he said, "The information on the previous owners of the field came in. Let's go."

Brennan took off her lab coat and hung it up, "Why did it take so long?"

"I don't know. We can ask that when we get to my office. Come on, let's go," Booth said as he grabbed Brennan's coat and helped her put it on.

"Why are you in such a big hurry?" asked Brennan as Booth dragged her out the door and helped her into the SUV.

"This case just makes me a little nervous. I keep expecting another horrible phone call."

"Oh."

As Booth drove they sat in silence. Booth felt like he should say something about the note she gave him. He had no idea what to say though. Twice he opened his mouth to say something but closed it because nothing of substance was going to come out. He parked the car in the FBI parking lot before saying anything.

He decided to say something now, "Bones."

She turned to look at him and said, "Yeah?"

"Um . . . about the note," started Booth.

Brennan interrupted him, "We should get going. Solve this case as fast as possible."

"Don't you think we should talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? The note said everything."

"Alright then, I guess we can go in," said Booth. He felt like they should have said something, but he guessed that she could be right. They'll just solve the case and maybe it won't be any different. Maybe the note won't change anything.

_Read and review! You know you want to._


	8. A Name

_Alright guys. I have not done a very good job of keeping up with this story. I have excises, but none very good, just a lot of friend troubles and a very difficult transition into college. Also I got a little discouraged when they solved this mystery on the show. Not to mention I did not particularly like that episode. Anyway, I hope to finish this, because I hate to be hypocritical. I hope you guys enjoy._

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_Chapter 8: A Name_

Brennan followed Booth to his office. She was thinking about the conversation that he had just attempted to start. The whole point in giving him the note she wrote him was to get rid of it so she didn't have to think about it anymore. Unfortunately, her plan seemed to be backfiring. Now Booth wanted to _talk_ about it, which was worse.

Booth stopped to chat with an agent outside his office, so Brennan let herself in. She sat down in one of the empty visitor chairs and turned to watch Booth. He had a file in his hand that the agent must have given him and did not look to happy at what the agent was telling him. Booth waved the file around at the agent a little before walking into his office.

"Well, here's the file on the previous owner of the property," said Booth sitting down behind his desk and setting the file down.

Brennan looked at him expectantly, "And?"

"The previous owner bought the property from the government about fifteen years ago. The government had it for a good fifty years; it was confiscated for some reason or other. This particular file does not specify the reason. Not that it will matter. Anyway, this guy held onto it until this company offered him big bucks for it, claiming it would be used as a park. The company that bought it was quickly bought out and the plans changed to building a subdivision."

"What was the previous owner's name?"

"In the file it says," Booth paused and opened the file to look up the name, "David Z. Cartwright."

"So we should probably talk to this guy, right?"

"Right. Unfortunately, David Z. Cartwright is a fake name. They looked back and found that this name only existed with this information to by this property. Uncle Sam didn't check as much information when Mr. Cartwright made his purchase."

"Any idea on who it could be? Description or something?"

"Not yet, but the government seller is still working for the government so I thought that we'd go talk to him now."

They sat in silence for a minute while Booth shuffled things around on his desk when something occurred to Brennan, "Hey, Booth?"

"Yeah?"

"How come we haven't talked to Laura Walker's family?"

"Because her parents rented a yacht down in Florida and are unattainable. Their plane should be landing," he paused to look at his watch, "well, now. There is not anyone else of significance we need to talk to. No husband or siblings. No need to talk to her friends. We probably won't get much from them. The file says that she was taken after work and that none of her friends had any information that meant anything to the investigation."

"Oh."

"We'll go by the Walker house and see if they're home after we talk to the government employee."

"Who is this government employee?"

"A man by the name of James Thompson. He had only been working for Uncle Sam for six months when he met Mr. Cartwright to make the sale."

Brennan nodded her head and Booth stood, "We should get going."

Brennan stood and followed him. They went outside and crossed the parking lot. It may not have been underground but it still made Brennan and Booth nervous. They both kept expecting the Gravedigger to jump out and grab them. They were almost to the car when Brennan asked, "Booth, can I drive?"

"What? No."

"Why not? I don't understand why you always have to drive. This is the twenty-first century, women can drive too!"

"You just drove yesterday!"

"But you never let me drive, so one instance of me driving is not a viable argument."

"I tell you what, when we catch the Gravedigger, I'll let you drive."

Brennan just got in the car and didn't look like she believed Booth. They had only driven a couple minutes when Brennan struck up a conversation again.

"So, why did it take so long to find the previous owner of that field?"

Booth looked at her. "It did not take that long to find him. They are public records but when they tried to do a background check on him and came up with nothing. They had to dig a little deeper before deciding that David Z. Cartwright did not exist."

"Mmm . . ." said Brennan falling silent.

The drive took a little over thirty minutes and it was spent in silence except for the small conversation when they first got into the car and a soft expletive from Booth when he missed his turn as they neared James Thompson's house.

Booth parked on the street in front of a small house on a crowded road. It seemed that every house had at least three cars sitting in the driveway or on the road. Booth and Brennan got out of the car and walked up the driveway. Booth's eyes scanned the street. He was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and this was the best neighborhood to hide in to just watch or stalk.

Brennan was observing the environment. She did not have a bad feeling, but she never really relies on feelings. The look of this neighborhood was really innocent. It was hard for Brennan to imagine anything bad on this street but Brennan knew looks could be deceiving.

Booth let Brennan up on the porch first. Even though he knew that the Gravedigger liked get victims in parking garages and having them suffocate to death, he could not help but feel the need to protect Brennan. Booth knew that she probably did not notice anyway.

Brennan rang the bell and stepped back to be even with Booth. The door opened and a man looked out at them. He was about fifty, but in good physical shape. He was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. He was barefooted and looked like he had just rolled out of bed, even though it was mid-afternoon.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Booth took out his ID and badge, showed it to him and said, "Special Agent Booth and this is Dr. Brennan, FBI, we're looking for James Thompson."

The man examined the badge before saying, "I'm James Thompson. What can I do for you?"

"We wanted to ask you about a sale you made about fifteen years ago," said Brennan as Thompson stepped aside to let them in.

"I'm not sure how much I can tell you. I don't seem to have the greatest memory but I'll answer any questions you have."

"We appreciate it," said Booth.

Thompson led them into a worn living room. There was a couch and two armchairs. All three of them looked well used. There was a scratched coffee table in front of the couch. They faced a moderately sized TV. There were very few personal touches. A book and a _TV Guide_ sat on the coffee table. On a bookcase on the back wall sat a few more books and a couple of pictures. Brennan and Booth sat down on the couch while Thompson sat in an armchair.

"So, what can you tell us about a purchase made by a Mr. David Cartwright?" asked Booth looking at Thompson.

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_My plan is to update and finish this story simply because I hate unfinished fics as much as the next person. I hope I can do it. _


	9. Stories and Families

_Here is the next chapter. I am really trying to update semi regularly. I hope that I can. On with the story!_

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_Chapter 9: Stories and Families_

Thompson stared at Booth. For a minute Booth did not think that he had heard the question because he just looked at him. Then Thompson looked at Brennan and said, "I remember _that_ sale because it almost made me quit my job of six months."

Thompson paused. Neither Brennan nor Booth said anything and waited for him to continue.

"That was one of the worst times of my life. My father had just died and my girlfriend of several years left. Then Mr. Cartwright came along and he wanted to buy this piece of land that had been on the market for almost three years. It had been shuffled from person to person in hopes that someone would be able to sell it.

"Anyway, Mr. Cartwright came in and asked about that property specifically. I thought that my luck was getting better after an absolutely terrible time in my life. Unfortunately this guy drew out the process as long as possible. He would go to confirm the purchase and find something wrong with the contract. I think I wrote and rewrote that contract a dozen times."

"Did you ever see him?" asked Booth his pen poised over his pad.

"Only once. I don't really remember any specifics but he was pretty average with dark hair."

"If we brought a sketch artist over would you be able to describe this guy for her?" asked Brennan.

"I don't think so. It has been an awfully long time."

"Alright, keep going."

"Well, after over a year of trying to sell that stupid property to David Cartwright I finally sealed the deal. Then six months later he came back and tried to say that the contract had something wrong with it and tried to give me the property back. He failed but I had my resignation letter written up. The only reason I stayed was because my boss convinced me to stay."

"Did anything stand out to you at all?" asked Booth.

"Besides the fact that he drew out the process an extremely long time? No."

"Did he say what he wanted to use the property for?"

"Not that I can remember."

"Well, thank you for your time," said Brennan as she and Booth stood to leave. Thompson stood up also and walked them to the door.

"It really wasn't any trouble and if there is anything else you need . . ."

"We'll be sure to let you know," said Booth.

Thompson closed the door after them and Booth led the way to his SUV. After Brennan and Booth had settled in their seats, Booth looked at Brennan and said, "Well, what do you think?"

"I don't know. He seemed pretty sincere to me," said Brennan uncertainly.

"I'm not sure. I think he might have something to hide," said Booth turning on the car and pulling away. "So where to now?"

"I guess we should talk to Laura Walker's family now," Brennan suggested, "You said that they should be home now right?"

"Yeah," said Booth. He reached back, grabbed a file from the back seat, and handed it to Brennan, "Look up the Walkers' address."

Brennan grabbed the file and opened it. After reading of the address she sat back to read the file. It was not a lot of new information but Brennan kept hoping that something would jump out and give her insight to end this case.

This time the drive took only fifteen minutes and again Booth parked on the street. The houses on this street were older than the houses on Thompson's street and whereas Thompson's street looked to be a teenaged road, this one looked older, and more worn.

There was a car in the Walker's driveway and the lights were on inside. Again Booth allowed Brennan to lead the way up onto the porch. She rang the bell. Booth and Brennan could hear movement inside before the door was opened by an upper-middle age man. He stared out at them before saying, "Can I help you?"

Booth took a small step forward and said, "I think we can help you."

"I don't want to buy anything," said Mr. Walker immediately.

"We are not selling anything," said Brennan slightly confused.

Booth pulled out his badge and said, "FBI, Special Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan. We have some information about your daughter."

The man's eyes widened and he took a step back and looked almost afraid but we he spoke, his voice was steady. "You've finally found her haven't you?"

"Yes, sir. We have."

"You had better come in," he said and stepped back to allow them into his home. The smell of fresh baked cookies immediately hit them as they walked in the door. Mr. Walker led them into the living room and said, "Please, make yourselves at home. I'll go get Kay."

Brennan noticed the differences between this house and Thompson's at once. Thompson had few personal touches and did not have an overflowing supply of furniture. The Walker house had pictures all over the walls and on every hard surface in the room. Brennan noticed that there were lots of pictures of Laura and another girl at least in the older pictures. At some point however, the girl stopped showing up in the pictures. Brennan wondered who she was.

There were a ton of magazines stack up next to the coffee table and the TV was turned onto the news. The news was reporting the weather. Nothing exciting in the next couple of days. Brennan sat down on the couch and Booth sat down next to her. She picked up a picture from the end table. It showed Laura, the other girl, and Mr. and Mrs. Walker. They seemed to be at the beach and everyone had huge grins on their faces.

Mr. Walker walked back into the room and said, "Kay will be here in a minute. She has to take the cookies out of the oven and clean up a little." He watched Brennan set the picture back down on the side table, "That was our family on the trip to Destin. The only time we ever went. That was a year before Sarah died. It was the summer before Laura went to college."

He paused. Brennan said, "You guys looked like you were enjoying your vacation."

"We were. I think that was the last time the whole family smiled. A month after that Sarah was diagnosed with cancer and less than a year later she was dead."

Booth was afraid that Mr. Walker would start crying for a moment but he collected himself and said, "But that was years ago."

From behind Booth and Brenna they heard, "John?"

"In the living room, Kay," he called back softly.

Kay Walker walked into the room, looked at Booth and Brennan, and asked, "Have you people finally found my daughter?"

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_So there it is. I did not get a lot of response with the last chapter, so how am I to know what you guys think? I would very much appreciate a review. ;)_


	10. Down Time

_Here is another chapter! And in only a week too. I know, I am just as suprised as everyone else. I hope you guys enjoy. And leave a reveiw, I would very much appreciate it. _

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_Chapter 10: Down Time_

Booth and Brennan both paused. There was no hostility in her voice. Mostly there was sadness and resignation. Mrs. Walker walked into the room. When she passed by the end table she picked up the picture Brennan had been looking at before.

"Both our daughters. Gone," she looked at her husband, "None of it should have ever happened."

She sat down in an armchair and looked at Booth and Brennan, "What can you tell me about Laura?"

Booth and Brennan looked at each other before Booth turned back to Kay Walker and said, "We found her yesterday in a field that was being dug up to make room for a subdivision."

"Do you have any other information?" she asked looking at the picture.

"We're working on it," Brennan said quickly.

Mrs. Walker looked at Brennan. "You're Dr. Brennan?" she asked. At Brennan's nod she continued, "I heard what happened to you and your colleague last year with the Gravedigger. I'm truly sorry for what happened."

"Thank you," said Brennan sincerely.

Booth cleared his throat and asked, "Is there anything in particular you remember about that time or shortly before?"

Mrs. Walker shook her head, "No, Laura was less talkative since Sarah died. She did not really talk to us much, but as far as I knew she didn't talk to many people."

Booth and Brennan stayed only another couple minutes before leaving. Booth led the way to his car. They got in and Booth pulled away from the curb.

Brennan was the first to speak, "I wonder how he chooses his victims."

Booth shrugged, "It could be anything."

Booth drove quietly and Brennan just stared out the window. Booth could not help but think that something was about to happen. And it was going to be big. He thought about everything that could happen. It was not a happy thought. The only consolation he had was that he was with Brennan this time and he was certain he could protect her.

Brennan did not have the weird feeling that something was going to happen but she felt sure that they had missed some integral part of the puzzle and that was why they could not solve the case and be done with this nightmare.

Booth drove them back to the Jeffersonian. They again parked in Goodman's vacant spot and walked the short distance to the door. As soon as they entered all the squints were on them about results. First Cam, who really may not be considered a squint, came up and said, "There was no match to the hair in the casket in the system."

"So he's never been caught before," said Booth thoughtfully.

Next they came by Hodgins who really did not have that much to report. He was working on trace samples and the dirt and would have more later. The only thing that he could tell Booth was that he could probably tell the type of shovel used because of the traces in the dirt and on the casket. Angela was standing next to Hodgins and seemed almost afraid to let him out of her sight.

Finally Brennan went up onto the platform to check in with Zach. Booth stayed off the platform but just like Angela with Hodgins, he seemed reluctant to let Brennan out of his sight.

"Anything new, Zach?" asked Brennan grabbing a pair of gloves and moving to stand across from him.

"Not really," replied Zach. He looked to be taking pictures of the bone burn, "I'm going to try and see how he altered this particular stun gun. Try and narrow down the search for a weapon."

"Keep at it," said Brennan setting down a bone, peeling off her gloves, and joining Booth at the base of the platform. Brennan led the way into her office. Booth started making some calls and looking over files that had appeared on Brennan's desk while she put on her lab coat and went to see if anyone needed any help.

Several hours later, with only more questions in his head than answers, Booth stood and stretched. He looked at his watch. Almost seven. They had spent several hours working here. Suddenly his stomach grumbled. He was walking to the door to go and find Brennan when she walked through the door.

"I was just going to look for you," he said taking a step back.

"Well there's no need. I'm right here," Brennan replied.

"I can see that."

Brennan looked at him, "Was there a reason you were coming to find me?"

"What? Oh, yeah. We should leave and get dinner and then go home," Booth said sternly ready to fight to get her to leave.

Brennan thought about it for a moment before shrugging and saying, "Okay."

Booth opened his mouth to protest before actually hearing what she had to say, "N- What?"

Brennan shrugged again, "We can leave now."

Booth looked at her, "I usually have to fight you to leave, Bones. Are you feeling okay? You aren't sick are you?"

"I'm fine, Booth," she said looking at him weird. "Can we just go now?"

In the time that Booth had spent making sure that Brennan really was ready to leave she had taken off her lab coat, gathered her bag, and was walking out the door. Booth quickly stacked all the files he was going to take with him and ran after her retreating back, "Bones! Wait for me."

She slowed down but did not stop. Booth jogged awkwardly up next to Brennan trying not to drop any files. He slowed down when he caught up and looked at her, "You could have waited."

"I slowed down."

"I appreciate it, Bones," said Booth with a hint of sarcasm.

"Then why did you complain?" asked Brennan, confused.

"Never mind," replied Booth shaking his head. They left the lab and walked to Booth's SUV. Booth dumped his files haphazardly in the backseat next to his son's booster seat that Brennan had not noticed before. She watched him. "How is Parker?"

"Good. He's spending the week in New York with Rebecca visiting her mom."

"Are you okay with that?"

"Well, I wasn't two days ago but now, with this whole Gravedigger thing, I'm kind of happy that he's not around."

Booth and Brennan hopped in the car and Booth drove to Brennan's apartment. Booth parked a couple rows from the door. Brennan got out and grabbed her bag. Booth opened the back door and started to gather the files that had fallen on the floor and spread out the seat. Booth was reaching all the way across the seat to get one of the files when he heard running footsteps behind him. He stood upright and called, "Brennan?"

"Booth, look out!"

Booth turned only to hear a buzzing in his ears before losing consciousness.


	11. The Beginning

_Author's Note: So again it has been a while. If no one tells me that they are enjoying my story, I will not be motivated to continue. I do want to finish this, though, so I will. It just might not be very fast. Now, some action really starts. I hope you guys enjoy. And you should tell me about it. _

* * *

_Chapter 11: The Beginning_

Brennan got out of Booth's car and dragged her bag out with her. The flap fell open and her cell phone fell out. She reached down to pick it up automatically. When she had shoved it back into her bag and stood back up she could see a figure running through the parking lot towards them. At first she assumed that it was her neighbor that always takes an evening jog. She was just about to call out a greeting when she realized that the runner was not doing a relaxed jog but rather a quick sprint across the parking lot. She vaguely heard Booth call her name but she ignored him. Then she saw the thing in the runner's hands. She did not know what it was but she could tell that it was nothing good. Instead of calling out a greeting, she called out a warning, "Booth, look out!"

Unfortunately she realized she was too late because even with the figure's hesitation, Booth did not react fast enough; he was still partially sprawled across the seat. Brennan automatically dropped her bag and ran around the car to protect Booth. She was too late to keep him from getting zapped but managed to distract and shorten the length of time the stun gun was held against Booth. She then tried to put herself between their assailant and Booth. She kicked her foot out and the figure lost his hold on his stun gun. Out of the corner of her eye Brennan could see Booth on the ground. He looked to be bleeding from a small wound on his head. It looked like he hit his head on the edge of the car when he fell.

Brennan again kicked out and the figure, which Brennan deduced to be a man, but he caught her foot and pushed her back. She fell hard on the ground. The man stood above her. She kicked her foot out a third time and caught him just below his knee, causing him to drop to the ground next to her.

Brennan scrambled to her knees and punched her assailant in the stomach. He moved away and she only got a glancing blow in. Brennan did not seem to be doing very well in deciding what where to hit and when. She kept glancing at Booth and around the area, hoping that someone would come along and help her out.

Her assailant reached for her hair but missed as she ducked away from him. Next time he reached out it was to hit. He got her on the eye and her head jerked back. The man got his bearings and reached for her hair again. This time he got a hold. He banged her head on the ground hard. Once. Twice. Three times, before Brennan felt him let up. Booth had regained consciousness briefly and weakly kicked the man off of Brennan before lying back down on the ground. Brennan could see that he tried to stay awake but it was just too much for him. Booth did not kick him very hard, only enough to push him off balance, but it was enough.

Brennan shook her head in hopes of clearing it. It only made it worse and for a second she thought she was going to pass out. She managed to stand only to find her assailant dragging himself up also. She knew that he would try and run so she threw herself at him. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that this was the Gravedigger and that letting him go would be very bad.

They both went down and the man landed right on Brennan's left arm causing her to gasp in pain. This time the man got up and grabbed the stun gun and ran. Brennan's vision was blurred and all she could do was crawl over to Booth. She sat down next to him and looked down at him. His eyes were closed and there was blood seeping from the wound in his head.

She searched his pockets for his cell phone, too tired and weak to walk around the car to get her own. She dialed the only number she could think of in her muddled state.

"Hello?" Angela's voice came through the phone.

"Ange . . ." said Brennan. She was quickly losing her grip on consciousness.

Angela could hear Brennan's strain. "Brennan? Brennan!? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"In front of my . . . my apartment," said Brennan. Brennan could vaguely hear Angela demanding that Hodgins turn around, but could not seem to focus on exactly what she was saying.

"Brennan? I need you to stay with me. Where is Booth?"

Brennan blinked several times, knowing that she had to stay alert. "Stun . . . gun."

"Oh my god! Brennan? Is he still there?" Angela asked getting more panicked as the conversation went on.

"No. I . . . fought," Brennan gasped.

"Brennan stick with me. We're almost there. Five minutes. Hold on for five minutes," Angela said frantically.

"I . . . will. Ange . . ."

There was a pause and Brennan could hear Angela telling Hodgins to go faster. Suddenly Angela came back on, "Brennan? Are you still with me?"

"Yeah," Brennan said. She was not sure how much longer she could hold on. Blackness was surrounding her. She still felt like she needed to watch over Booth so she reached out and placed a hand protectively on Booth's shoulder. She whispered, "Booth . . ."

Brennan's senses were dulling. A car turned into the parking lot and for a second Brennan was afraid that her assailant was back. At least until she recognized what Booth called Hodgins' 'toy car.' Angela, Zach, and Hodgins ran from the car to where Brennan was waiting. Seeing them Brennan dropped the cell phone without even bothering to end the call.

"Brennan!" Angela called, "What happened?"

"Someone attacked us," Brennan said breathlessly.

"We just called the police. They are on their way," said Hodgins.

Brennan nodded and started to close her eyes. She stayed alert long enough until someone came to watch for her. She felt safe and that her job was done. Now all she wanted was to sleep. She started leaning to one side but Angela and Hodgins reached out and held her up. Angela said, "Brennan, you have to stay awake!"

Brennan opened her eyes again. She looked up at Angela, Hodgins, and Zach, who were all looking down at her worriedly. She decided she needed to do something to stay awake so she started to tell them what happened, "I think it was . . . the . . . Gravedigger. He used a . . . stun gun on . . . Booth. I fought . . . him."

"Good job, you did good, Brennan, you did good," said Angela pulling her close. Hodgins was checking on Booth. Zach was just standing there. He seemed a little lost. Brennan looked up at him. Neither really had anything to say that was not completely awkward.

Then everyone heard the sirens. Hodgins stood and went out from behind Booth's SUV and into the open to show the cops exactly where they were. First came a police cruiser. An ambulance soon followed. Booth was taken first. A second ambulance came shortly after Booth's left. Brennan got that one. She was never really lucid after she told Angela what happened, but she successfully stayed awake for Angela.

Not five minutes after Brennan left Cullen showed up, quickly followed by Cam. Angela, Hodgins, and Zach told their story four different times before being allowed to go to the hospital to check on their friends. Cam and Cullen followed them.

When they did make it to the hospital, they were told that there was no lasting damage and that both Brennan and Booth were out for the night. Cullen and Cam both left to inform other administrative people. Angela demanded to see them and only after the words 'multimillionaire,' 'donation,' and 'FBI' were thrown around did the nurse finally allow it. Angela and Hodgins then asked for Booth and Brennan to be in the same room and after some more coercion they managed it. Angela slept in a chair. Zach was laid out on an empty hospital bed in the room. Hodgins however could not sleep. He could not help but feel that this was only the beginning.

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_So come on guys, you know that you want to review._


	12. Break Out

_Author's Note: So here is another chapter. I know that it is shocking for me to actually post this soon. Actually I am procratinating. So be appreciative. I should be studying for my Calulus final right now. I hope you guys enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I never remember to do these. I do not own _Bones_. I just play around with the characters._

_Chapter 12: Break Out_

When Booth awoke he was confused. He was reluctant to open his eyes because he was pretty sure hell was just beyond his closed lids. He did not remember drinking that much the night before but he had to have drunk a lot to feel this bad. He turned his head and a sharp pain went up his neck. The pain startled him and he opened his eyes and saw a lot of white.

_This is not my bedroom, _thought Booth, _this isn't even my apartment._ He realized that he was in the hospital and tried desperately to remember why he was there. Booth turned his head to the other side, this time ignoring the pain in his neck, and saw Brennan in the next bed. Suddenly he was feeling very awake and slightly panicked. He sat up. His head pounded and his vision blurred but he tried to get up anyway.

He stood and swayed. Black spots obscured his vision. He swayed dangerously and gripped the bed. His head was really pounding now. "Wow," he whispered, trying to stay vertical.

At his exclamation Angela jerked up off of Brennan's bed. When she saw Booth she immediately jumped up and said, "Booth! You should be in bed."

She tried to push him back onto the bed. He tried to push her off but was not really strong enough to resist. "What happened to Bones? Is she okay?"

Angela sighed, "Wouldn't you rather know what happened to you?"

Booth looked at her. Angela shook her head and said, "What can you remember?"

Booth looked thoughtful for a minute before saying, "I remember talking with Brennan on the way to her apartment and then, nothing."

"You guys were attacked last night. He got you with a stun gun. Brennan fought him and then he ran off," Angela said quickly, like if not getting the story over quickly enough would cause it to happen again or some other equally horrifying event to occur.

"Gravedigger?" Booth asked aghast.

"Brennan said she thought so last night," replied Angela, glancing back at Brennan.

"What," started Booth. He paused before continuing, "What is wrong with her?"

"She had a moderate concussion –you have a mild one – and a pretty bad sprained wrist. Otherwise she is fine."

Booth looked relieved at the relative trivialness of her injuries. And then something else sunk in. "She _fought_ him?" Booth looked incredulous.

"Yeah. I don't know all the details. You woke up first," replied Angela distractedly, missing the disbelief in his voice. Then, just like Brennan heard Angela's words, she rolled over and opened her eyes. She looked up at Angela and Booth and looked relieved.

Angela moved to stand next to her bed and asked, "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"I'm fine," said Brennan shortly. She sat up in her bed and then closed her eyes again. Her head was spinning.

Booth smiled. She may not be fine but with that response he knew that she was well on her way. He was still worried. He went to walk over next to her and this time managed it without his head spinning too much, at least the spinning did not make him that dizzy. He took that as a sign that it was time for him to check out. He needed to check on Brennan first. Then he needed to take out the Gravedigger before this went any farther.

By the time Booth made it next to Angela, she had already made a comment and Brennan was already responding, ". . . seriously Ange, I'm fine."

Brennan looked next to Angela and saw Booth. She looked relieved again seeing Booth up. She tried to sit up a little bit straighter and asked, "How are you, Booth?"

"I've never been better," said Booth with a small grin, trying to convince himself as well as Brennan.

"I doubt that," replied Brennan, "You got hit with a stun gun and you hit your head. I'm pretty sure you have been better." Brennan had a slightly confused look on her face.

Booth just smiled at her and turned to Angela, "Where is everyone?"

Angela did not seem to know what he was talking about at first but then recognition dawned, "I need to call the lab! I promised to call when you guys woke up."

"Everyone is at the lab?" asked Booth.

"Yeah, they're trying to solve the case quickly," Angela replied distractedly, pulling out her cell phone. "I'll be right back," and Angela walked out the door.

Booth looked at Brennan, "You fought him?"

"Yeah, you were out and somebody had to do something."

Booth grinned, "Who won?"

"Who won what?" Brennan's face creased with thought.

"The fight. Who got the upper hand? Who came off worse?"

"Well, _he_ ran away, but I think he got more hits in."

That's when Booth really took in her appearance. Her left wrist was wrapped tightly in ace bandages and laid across her stomach. The thin blanket was pulled up over her stomach with her wrist on top. She had a black eye and he could see a lump on her head. Basically, she looked like hell.

He voiced his opinion, "You don't look so great."

Brennan looked at Booth. He had a bump above his left eyebrow and there was a small cut. The area around the cut was an ugly purple yellow bruise. She could also see the stun gun burn on his neck. "You don't look your best either," she replied.

Booth feigned a hurt look, "You don't think I look good?"

Angela walked back in before Brennan could respond. She heard Booth's statement and felt the need to reply, "Well neither of you look too hot but Booth, you always look good."

Booth grinned and Brennan looked at Angela. Angela looked back at Brennan and grinned, "I'm here to break you guys out of here."

"Great," said Booth, "Where are my clothes?"

"And mine?" piped in Brennan.

Angela pulled out a duffle bag. "I went to your apartment to get you clothes and I saw Booth's bag sitting in the living room."

Booth grabbed the bag from Angela and looked at her.

"Fine. I'll be right outside. Shout if you need anything."

Booth opened the bag and pulled out his clothes. Brennan was getting out of the hospital bed. Booth set down the duffel on the bed. Brennan opened it and asked, "Shouldn't we wait for a doctor to release us?"

"The doctor will probably come by soon and this way we can leave sooner," replied Booth pulling on his jeans. In the back on his mind he wanted to insist that Brennan stay here until this whole thing was over but he knew that would never happen. That was why he did not even bother to ask.

Booth barely finished speaking when the doctor walked. Brennan was completely dressed and Booth was pulling on his t-shirt. The doctor chuckled when he came in, "Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth, surely you don't want to leave so soon."

Booth and Brennan looked at each other. Booth said, "We really need to get out of here. We have things to do. Places to go. You know how it is."

"Ah, yes. I'm Dr. Fields and I'll just be a minute," said Dr. Fields. He spent only a couple minutes on each of them, checking for any signs that there was anything seriously wrong. He gave them both the speech on concussions. Then he gave Brennan the speech on how to treat a sprain.

Twenty minutes after Dr. Fields had gone into Booth and Brennan's room they were on their way to the Jeffersonian with Angela driving one of Hodgins cars. Brennan was a little woozy and if Booth stood up too quickly black dots danced in front of his eyes, but both of them tried to ignore it. Angela could see that they were not in great shape and knew that nothing she said would slow them down at all. She decided to just keep an extra close eye on them.

_So you read, now don't you want to tell me about it? Please?_


	13. Nothing More

_Author's Note: Man, am I feeling good. Here is another chapter and I hope to post another by the end of the weekend. This one is not too interesting, but I hope you guys enjoy anyway. Happy Reading._

_Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Sad, I know._

_Chapter 13: Nothing More_

They arrived at the Jeffersonian and Angela parked in Dr. Goodman's parking spot. Booth looked at the spot curiously before asking, "Do all of you park in this spot when Goodman's gone?"

Angela and Brennan looked at each other before Angela said, "Well, usually Brennan is the only one who parks here but if she doesn't then I'll park here."

Brennan added, "Goodman's gone a lot and we figure why should he get a great spot he doesn't even use."

Booth nodded his head as if that made sense and he guessed it did a little but it was very strange. He never really thought of Brennan thinking like that. It was difficult for him to explain, even to himself but it never really occurred to Booth that Brennan would ignore the hierarchy of the lab. Booth just shook his head and led the way into the Jeffersonian. They could see everyone up on the platform and walked up to join them.

Cam, Zach, and Hodgins watched them come up. They were all looking for any signs that there was anything seriously wrong. Cam was really worried. She knew Booth too well and was afraid that this time he would not rest until the Gravedigger was taken out whether he was hurt or not. Especially since it included the safety of Brennan. She may not have been around for the whole thing with Kenton but she definitely heard about it. And she was here for the first go around with the Gravedigger. Not that Cam was not worried about Brennan, but she was pretty sure that Brennan would not do anything really stupid like Booth was prone to do. Hodgins and Zach, who were both around for both those particular cases worried about both of them. When Brennan, Booth, and Angela joined the circle without falling or fainting everyone else looked away satisfied, if only for the time being, that they were okay.

Booth noticed their scrutiny but he decided to ignore it. He could understand that they were worried. As a result they were now completely focused on getting this son of a bitch off the streets. Not that they were not before. He just thought that they were in denial that anything bad would _really_ happen. God knows he was. He knew what the Gravedigger was capable of, he just refused to believe that it could happen _again._ And because of his, and everyone else's doubt, it almost did. Sure he made them take precautions but that was only because he felt that he had to.

Now, however, with the Gravedigger coming out of the closet, so to speak, everyone was on edge. And Booth could understand that.

"Anything new?" Booth asked after everyone had stopped their scrutiny of him and Brennan.

"Not anything of substance. We analyzed the hair and there was no match in CODIS but now we have it if we ever get something to test it against," said Cam.

"I've concluded that the stun gun used on Laura Walkers was not tampered with at all. I also found the stun gun used on her," said Zach, "He updated after that and modified it and the result was what he used on the Kent brothers and every victim after."

Hodgins picked up where Zach left off, "I've analyzed the dirt. Nothing really of interest there. All the dirt was from the field."

Booth and Brennan nodded. Everyone was standing around an empty table. Booth and Brennan were standing on one side. Zach and Angela were standing opposite them. Cam and Hodgins were standing on the ends. Everyone was looking around at everyone else. Now that all the evidence was processed the squints had no idea what to do now.

Finally Booth, who was tired of just staring at people, said, "I'm going to look over the file on the purchase of the field again."

Everyone else started at the sound of his voice. They were all deeply immersed in their own thoughts. Brennan looked up at Booth and said, "I'll go with you."

Booth was just about to argue when he saw Brennan's face. She looked just as determined as he felt. "Alright," he looked at Angela, "Is my car still at Brennan's apartment?"

"Yeah," she pulled out his keys, "Jack locked it after the crime scene guys were done."

"Thanks," said Booth taking his keys from her hands, "Can you, or someone, give us a ride? Or can we borrow someone's car?"

"I'll give you a ride," offered Hodgins, "We'll give Ange a break from chauffeuring you guys around town."

"Thanks," said Booth as he turned to leave. Brennan and Hodgins followed him.

When they made it to the parking lot at Brennan's apartment, Hodgins looked over at Booth and said, "Do you need me to stay or are you guys okay?"

"We'll be okay," said Booth as he and Brennan got out of the car, "Thanks for the ride Hodgins. We appreciate it."

Hodgins nodded and when both Brennan and Booth were out of the car he drove off. Booth put his hand on the small of Brennan's back. He led her to the car. Both of their eyes were darting back and forth. It may be the middle of the day with bright sunlight in an outdoor parking lot, but that did not make Booth or Brennan feel any safer. Booth could feel this was winding down. The end was near. He had a feeling that the answer was in one of the files spread across the back seat of his car.

Booth unlocked the SUV and he and Brennan each opened one of the back doors. They each grabbed files one at a time making sure that nothing was going to fall out. Brennan had grabbed about a third of the files while Booth had the rest. She led the way to her apartment and when they were in she locked the door before even setting down the files she was carrying. Not that she just left her door unlocked otherwise but she was definitely more careful now. Now that the Gravedigger had attacked outside his comfort zone: in an open parking lot, everyone was really on edge and Brennan could easily see that.

Booth immediately invited himself to sit down on her couch and set his files down on her coffee table, but he knew she would not mind. He searched through all the files looking for the one on the purchase of that particular field. When he found it he leaned back to read it. Brennan, who had also sat down her files on the coffee table, joined him on the couch and leaned over to read over his shoulder. Booth skimmed the document, having already read through it twice in as many days so it took him only ten minutes to find what he was looking for.

_Now that you have read, don't you want to review?_


	14. Records and Connections

_Author's Note: Here is another chapter! I am on a role! I hope that you guys enjoy. Happy Reading. And Happy Holidays, too!_

_Disclaimer: If only . . ._

_Chapter 14: Records and Connections_

Booth immediately looked over at Brennan with a smirk on his face. She had not caught on to what he was so excited about so she continued reading. She had not read the file before so she was taking more time and therefore missing a lot when Booth turned the pages he had skimmed. It only took her another couple minutes before looking at him with a confused, yet triumphant look, "There is no more information in this file other than one name: David Z. Cartwright. Where is all the information collected for the purchase?"

"Well," said Booth playing devil's advocate, "Mr. Cartwright did pay in cash and at the time no identification was really needed to make such a purchase."

"That is true, but Thompson said that this had everything he ever got from Cartwright. That should at least include a phone number, since he says that that is how they communicated."

"But what if Cartwright only called Thompson and asked that Thompson not call him?"

"That would not make any sense. Unless Cartwright called every day to check on the property, which is unrealistic."

Booth stopped playing and said, "Maybe we should have another chat with Thompson. See what he has to say about these new developments. Maybe in the meantime we could get his bank records and see if he got or lost a significant amount of money around this time."

"We should also get his credit card records," said Brennan thoughtfully, "And if that leads to anything, a sample of his DNA."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's just start with his records and go from there," said Booth as he pulled out his cell phone, "I'm just going to make a quick call."

Booth stood up and walked a short distance away from her. Brennan continued reading the file. She really did not get that much out of it. There was no information on Cartwright. In all the places that he had to put information about himself, he put his name, the address of a men's shelter – that had already been looked up and noted, and n/a in the phone number blanks. Nothing else was really required at this particular office for this particular parcel of land. Thompson had said that the government had been trying to sell it for years and that when it was finally sold everyone in the office was dancing for joy. Nobody would question the purchase.

Booth walked back in. "We can pick up hard copies of Thompson's records at my office. We can look over them there before heading over to talk to him."

"Okay," said Brennan standing up. She looked at the mess of files on the coffee table. "Do we need any of those, because if not then we can just leave them there and get them at another time?"

"We can leave them. And this way we won't have to worry about them all over my backseat," said Booth with a smile as he led the way out the door.

"Yeah, we just have to worry about them all over my coffee table," said Brennan, teasing him.

"Hey, you offered!"

Brennan just ignored that and pushed ahead of his out into the parking lot. She hopped in the passenger seat and waited for him to get in. The whole time she was wearing the hint of a smile. Booth got in after her and pulled out and started to Hoover building.

The same agent that helped Booth before, Charlie, stopped Booth before they got to his office. He handed him the papers and said, "There is a visitor waiting for you."

Booth did not even look up. He had given Brennan one of the files and they were each skimming one. "Who is it?"

"He won't give his name but he says he has something important on the Gravedigger case."

Booth looked up at this. Brennan had already made her way into his office and was seated in a chair. Booth thought about it only for a moment before saying, "Alright. Let him in."

Booth was really hoping that this visitor will come in a say something like _I saw this man, whose name I happen to know, take these people – any of the victims will do – to this place, where they were buried. _Booth knew that it was unrealistic to think that someone would actually come in and say that but that did not stop him from hoping. He knew that it would probably be someone who thought that they might have overheard a conversation between two people who maybe heard a rumor about a criminal who could possibly be the Gravedigger. He, and the FBI, got that a lot.

Booth went in and joined Brennan. She was seated in the same chair she always sat in and she was reading through the file he had given her. Booth sat down behind his desk. He set down the files on his desk and said, "We have a visitor. He should be up here soon."

Brennan nodded her head but did not look up from her file.

"So you might want to pull your nose out of that file and see want he has to say."

Brennan looked up. "He is not here yet so really I can keep reading. I would stop when he got here."

"Yeah, but now you won't be interrupted at an inconvenient time while your reading."

"You mean like I was just now when you interrupted me?"

Booth smiled at her but did not say anything. The door to his office opened and his smile went to a frown and he coldly asked, "Mr. Vega? What are you doing here?"

Brennan turned around surprised. Thomas Vega was standing in the doorway. He let himself in and said, "I thought that the agent told you. I have information you might find useful."

"I could have sworn that I said that we did not want your help Mr. Vega."

"You did say that, yes."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I have information you need."

Booth opened his mouth to retort but Brennan cut him off, "What do you have for us, Mr. Vega."

"I found a connection between all the victims. Well, except you Dr. Brennan, but I think we all know why you were taken."

Booth did not look impressed. Brennan did not show any emotion. Vega continued, trying to get them to actually listen to him, "I know why the Gravedigger chose his victims. Well, not why but how."

Brennan looked interested but Booth remained stoic. Taking Brennan's interest as encouragement, Thomas continued, "Exactly twenty-one days, three weeks, before each victim was taken they were all in the exact same place."

_A/N: I always appreciate a review. :)_


	15. Connections and a Suspect

_A/N: I really have no good excuse . . ._

_Disclaimer: I do not own _Bones_ nor do I make any profit from manipulating its characters._

_Chapter 15: Connections and a Suspect_

At this remark even Booth looked slightly interested. "And how did you find that out and why did it take so much time?"

Vega smiled. "I've been following this lead for a while now and it just came through. I used some good old fashioned detective work to come to this conclusion," Vega said. He could not help but put that little jab in at the end.

Booth sat up straighter and looked offended. Brennan who had missed the jab at them replied before Booth could even formulate a response. "And where were they all?"

"At the music store on 21st street. All of them were at that store three weeks before they were taken," concluded Vega triumphantly.

Booth looked at Vega darkly, "Well, thanks for the tip, Mr. Vega. We'll be sure to look into it. Now we have things we need to do so if you would excuse us . . ." Booth stood and grabbed the files on his desk. Brennan also stood. They walked out of the room but before they could escape Vega called out, "So you are just going to ignore my tip, just because _I _gave it to you!?"

Booth did not turn around but Brennan looked back and said, "We'll give this the attention it deserves." And she walked out.

Brennan may not have caught the jab but she could see that Booth was extremely unhappy with Vega. She did not really know why Booth and Vega always seemed to be going at each other but she knew that something had probably happened last time they investigated the Gravedigger. Brennan was catching on to the fact that most of what happened when she was in the car made Thomas Vega an enemy in Booth.

Booth was already at the elevator and was holding the door open for her. He was glaring down the hall past Brennan at his office. Brennan stepped in beside him and asked, "What does this tip get us?"

"Another puzzle piece," admitted Booth grudgingly.

Brennan and Booth rode the elevator down in silence. Booth was trying to decide whether to pursue Vega's lead first or their own. Booth pretty much decided on his own lead, mostly because there really was not much he could get from the music store in just one visit. They would have to question the employees who would not say much and then they would have to stake it out just to see who went in and out. No, they would visit Thompson first.

Half an hour later they were standing on Thompson's porch. Brennan was holding on to the useless file and Booth had just rung the bell. No answer. He rang the bell again and called, "Mr. Thompson? Are you there? We just want to ask you some questions." Again there was no answer. Booth looked through the side windows and saw that the house was dark. "Thompson must not be here," said Booth reluctantly, "I guess we should go check out the music shop."

Brennan nodded her head. Even she could hear the reluctance to go. They walked to the car. Booth and Brennan got in but Booth had not yet started the car. He really did not want to take Vega's lead into account at all, much less right now. Brennan seemed to understand this and said, "We could stop by the Jeffersonian first, see if they have found anything new."

Booth knew that there would be nothing new at the Jeffersonian. As much as he disliked Vega, he could not ignore his tip. Of course he would have to have the 'old fashioned detective work' double checked by the FBI, but it would not hurt to check out the music store. So, with that in mind, Booth turned on the car, pulled out, and said, "No, they won't have anything new. We'll just go by the music store real fast. See if there is anything to it before checking it out officially."

Brennan nodded. It really did not matter to her. A lead was a lead no matter who gave the tip. She sat back in the seat and relaxed the whole way there. Booth however spent the whole trip convincing himself that he could not let the fact that he disliked Vega color his judgment. It was harder than he thought. It took him almost the whole trip to figure out why and then it hit him hard. He, at least partially, blamed Vega for what happened to Brennan. When he came to this realization, it became obvious to him in his behavior. After all he practically said that last year when he, uh, threatened Vega.

He parked in front of the store and he and Brennan exited the car. It was crammed between a bookstore and a department store. The music store was small and had no sign so it was probably a good thing that Booth knew of it. Booth and Brennan walked into the store. It had some of everything. There were several guitars and other instruments hanging on the wall. There was a section of CDs and a section of albums. There was a drum set in the corner and cases full of everything from clarinets to tubas to violins were poking out from under shelves and stacked up against the wall. There was no one in the room but there was a door slightly ajar in the back, through which voices could be heard.

Brennan looked around the store, seeing everything that was displayed. Booth walked over to the CD section and looked at what was there. He smiled as he recognized CDs. Then two men walked through the door. Brennan and Booth turned their attention to the two men and were surprised by what they saw. One man they assumed to be the owner and he was wearing the t-shirt of a long forgotten band. The other man was none other than James Thompson. Suddenly Thompson was looking like a pretty damn good suspect.

Everyone stopped and stared, well, everyone except the owner. Booth then turned to Brennan and said, "Maybe Vega had something."

Brennan nodded her head in agreement and said, "I think you are right Booth."

Booth turned back to Thompson and said, "Small world. We were just at your house looking for you."

Thompson seemed to finally get over his shock of Brennan and Booth walking into the music store and said, "Yeah well, Jack here is my friend and I come here sometimes when I need to relax."

"Mmmm, I didn't know you were into music. When we were at your house I didn't see so much as a CD," replied Booth. He seemed to enjoy making Thompson nervous.

"They were all put away. I have a special case for CDs set up in my bedroom." Thompson looked very uncomfortable. Jack who was standing next to him was also shifting uncomfortably. Then Thompson seemed to recover and asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we had some more questions about your sale. And now we have some questions about this store. If you could come with us," said Booth motioning to the door. He decided this would probably be a better conversation to have downtown.

"But, why can't we talk here? Or we could go to my house?"

"No, I think that it would be better to talk at the Hoover building," said Booth moving towards Thompson. He turned to the Jack and asked with a smirk, "Jack is it? You're welcome to join us."

"Um, I need to tend to the store," said Jack backing away.

Booth turned back and shrugged, "Okay." Booth knew that he had no reason to make Jack join them and he knew the minute he asked him not to leave town he would so he just left it at that. He turned back and led Thompson from the shop. Brennan followed quickly behind.

"Do I need a lawyer?" asked Thompson as Booth shoved him in the backseat.

Booth looked at him and shrugged before slamming the door.

_A/N: Please review! It motivates me._


	16. Got Him

_A/N: Well, here is the next chapter. Enjoy! I am working on actually finishing this, which I know I have said before. But this time, really. Really._

_Disclaimer: I do not own _Bones.

_Chapter 16: Got Him _

It only took a couple hours for the warrant to search Thompson's house to come through. Booth decided to let Thompson sweat a little and went with Brennan and the FBI forensics team to search the house. Besides Thompson wanted his lawyer, who happened to be in New York City for the day, to join them. Therefore Booth had several hours to spare.

Brennan searched Thompson's apartment for almost four hours. She went over every room after the FBI forensics team and spent a lot of time just looking at everything. They found nothing. Shoes with any dirt on them were sent to Hodgins along with three shovels. The garage was searched but there was no car in there, much less one with an aluminum case in the trunk. Booth and Brennan went back to the Hoover building without any more than what they started with.

"I can't believe there was nothing in his house. I was sure we'd find something," said Booth dejectedly. They were at the diner for a late lunch.

"Maybe we overlooked something," said Brennan, poking at her salad.

"No, you know you didn't."

Brennan looked up at him briefly before turning back to her salad, "Maybe he has a storage locker or something."

"We can check his records when we got back."

"We should also stop by the lab and see if Hodgins has come up with something."

"Okay."

After they finished eating, Booth called Cullen to see if Thompson's lawyer had arrived. He had not. So they went by the Jeffersonian to see if anyone had anything. This time Booth parked in Goodman's spot without a thought and led the way into the Jeffersonian. They stopped by Brennan's office so she could put down her bag and grab her lab coat.

She walked out onto the platform and walked over to Zach. "Anything new?

"Nothing and the stuff from Thompson's place just arrived. We haven't had any time to look at it," said Zach without looking up from the microscope he was looking into.

Brennan looked at some of the stuff up on the screens and leaned over the bones again and took a closer look at something. She looked back at the screens, nodded her head, and said, "Good work Zach. Keep working."

"Yes Dr. Brennan," said Zach still not looking up from his microscope.

Booth followed behind Brennan as she talked to Angela, Cam, and Hodgins. Angela and Cam had little to add to the investigation. Hodgins was working on dirt from the shoes and the shovels. So far all he could say was that it was a possibility that the shoes and shovels had been to the crime scenes. He had to admit though that it was unlikely that they could directly link the shoes to any crime scene considering that it had been years since most of the murders or kidnappings.

Brennan and Booth were heading back into Brennan's office, for lack of something better to do when Booth's phone rang.

"Booth."

Brennan took of her lab coat and sat down in the chair behind her desk. She opened her email as Booth had a discussion with someone on the other end of the line. She scrolled through her email looking for ones that she needed to respond to immediately. There were none that needed and immediate response so she just went through and responded to all of them. There were several from other colleagues either asking her opinion or just making contact. There were also two from her publisher. One questioning when her next book would be done and another asking when she could do an interview with a magazine.

She closed her email and looked up. Booth was still talking to someone on the phone. Brennan leaned back in her chair and took a moment to relax. She felt as if she should be doing something but was really tired and happily took a break.

Booth snapped his phone shut and walked over to Brennan. Brennan gave him a questioning look.

"Well, Charlie called to tell me that Thompson's lawyer arrived."

"It was an awfully long conversation just to inform you that Thompson's lawyer arrived."

"Yeah, well Charlie wanted to talk to me about something else."

"What else?"

"Stuff about a possible promotion for him. I couldn't get him to stop talking. I'm sorry."

"There's no reason to apologize. He was just looking for your advice and experience."

Booth nodded his head and said, "Well, let's go and question Thompson."

Brennan and Booth walked out to Booth's car and got in silently. Brennan couldn't help but think that maybe they finally had them. All they had to do was prove that this guy did it. Somehow without any proof Brennan was certain that he did it but she tried to suppress that feeling. Briefly she wondered if this was how Booth felt all the time.

Booth was trying really hard not to worry. For some reason he felt like they were missing something. He wished that he had taken the music store owner into custody as well as Thompson but at the time there really hadn't seemed to be any reason to.

Booth pulled into a parking spot and got out. For some reason neither Booth nor Brennan got out right away. Booth opened his mouth to start a conversation about the note again but Brennan sighed and opened her door. Again Booth really wanted to talk about it but he didn't want to push Brennan.

Booth got out and followed Brennan up to his office. Brennan sat down in a visitors chair and asked, "How are we going to approach this?"

"Well I guess while we were at your office we could have taken a look at Thompson's financial records, but let's do that now and then we can talk to Thompson about his possible involvement in this whole thing and then maybe we can be done with this whole experience."

Brennan nodded her head, "I agree." She picked up the file from Booth's desk and divided it up into two stacks. "You can look over the more recent financial records and I'll look at the older ones."

Booth and Brennan immersed themselves in numbers and records. They spent a good twenty minutes reading before Booth stood and walked around to sit next to Brennan. "There really doesn't seem to be any unexplainable transactions. At least, not recently."

Brennan had her brow furrowed and was looking closely at the piece of paper in her hand. She did not respond to Booth and he was not even sure if she heard him.

"Bones? Found anything?"

Brennan looked up and smiled. "I think we got him Booth."

Booth grinned back at her. "Show me." As Booth listened to Brennan he smiled. Oh yes. They had him.

_A/N: Reviews make the world go round. ;)_


	17. Confrontation

_A/N: And we are moving right along. This is looking good for getting done very soon. Only a couple of chapters left._

_Disclaimer: I wish._

_Chapter 17: Confrontation_

"About a week before Thompson made the sale of the large field he took withdrew a large sum of money."

"Large enough to buy said large field?" asked Booth, mostly playing along, but also listening excitedly.

Brennan nodded before continuing, "Then several days later he took out a much smaller sum of money. It was enough, however, to buy the coffin that Laura Walker was found in."

Booth was smiling, but was still wary, "That's good but these two things could just be a coincidence."

Brennan was smiling now, "Except that he did it again for the next victim. Enough money was withdrawn to pay for what the second victim was found in. Only this time, two weeks after the ransom was paid he deposited about half of that amount and he got a new car."

"Wow, did he screw up anything else?"

"Not that I have. He must have learned his lesson or gotten smarter. Either way, we have him now. All we have to do is show Caroline, get her to press charges, and then we got him."

"A confession would be nice though," said Booth wistfully.

"True, but we don't need it."

Brennan and Booth stood as Charlie walked in. "Uh, Booth?"

Booth was suddenly anxious because of how nervous Charlie looked. The only reason Charlie would be nervous is if he screwed up or something got screwed up. Either way they were screwed. "What happened?"

"Thompson's lawyer came in screaming anything he could come up with and before anyone could blink he had a judge calling to order Thompson's immediate release. He left with Thompson ten minutes ago."

"Why wasn't I informed sooner?"

"Well, Thompson's lawyer arrived fifteen minutes ago and five minutes later they were out the door."

Booth calmed himself slightly before saying, "Thank you Charlie."

Booth walked back around his desk and called for a BOLO on Thompson. He then called for an arrest warrant before saying, "Let's go, Bones."

"Where are we going?"

"To catch a killer."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Booth and Brennan first searched for Thompson at his house. The house was empty and showed no sign of life. Next they went to the small music store. The owner, Jack or something, was there. Booth decided it would be a good idea to chat with him.

"Hey, Jack, was it?" asked Booth coming around the counter.

Jack turned slightly alarmed. When he saw who it was he relaxed slightly before tensing back up immediately. "What do you want?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where Thompson is right now, do you?" asked Booth.

"You guys arrested him earlier; don't you know where he is?"

Booth glared at him, "We didn't arrest him and have you seen him since we _escorted_ him to the FBI building earlier?"

Jack quickly shook his, "What is going on?"

Booth ignored him and handed him his card, "If you hear from him you will call me, okay?"

Jack nodded and Booth led Brennan back out the door. They got into the car before Booth asked aloud, "Where else could he be?"

Brennan looked at him a moment before saying, "You were not very nice to him."

Booth looked at her a moment before responding, "Yeah, I know. But this whole thing is making me nervous and I'm pretty sure he'll live anyway."

Brennan nodded and they were silent for several moments before she said, "I guess we could check his office and maybe swing back by his house."

"I have agents stationed at both the places but we could."

"Never mind then."

Booth started the car. "May as well go back to the office. Maybe we can find some clue as to where he would go."

Brennan and Booth went back to Booth's office but there was nothing really to give them any more clues. They then went to the Jeffersonian but there was nothing new there. Brennan could have worked on the case from limbo Zach was working on but she was too apprehensive to focus. Instead she and Booth went to the diner. They had to park two blocks away, though, because the street was so crowded.

They sat at a booth and ordered coffee. Booth got a piece of pie as well. They sat there not saying anything. Booth was eating his pie but he wasn't really tasting it and Brennan was playing with her napkin. Neither really knew what to do. Both were nervous.

Booth's cell rang. He answered it and had a short conversation with whoever was on the other end. He looked up at Brennan when he hung up and said, "Come on, Bones. There has been a confirmed sighting about an hour ago."

"Where was he seen?"

"Four blocks from the music store."

"Well, let's go."

Booth set down a couple bills and led the way out the door. They moved quickly down the road. They were only half a block from the SUV and moving quickly when Thompson jumped out from behind a car.

"Don't move!" he said pointing a gun at them. Booth, who had been reaching for his gun, froze. Thompson had pointed the gun in the right direction to get Booth to freeze without thought, right at Brennan. Brennan had frozen as well, but not so much out of fear as out of instinct.

Booth raised his hands and said, "Woah, calm down."

"Don't do anything!"

"We aren't," said Brennan matter-of-factly.

Thompson glared at Brennan and pointed the gun at her, "Don't be a smart-ass."

"She's not!" said Booth quickly before Brennan could respond. He knew that Brennan would respond without knowing that she was pissing off Thompson. That could lead to gunfire and gunfire could lead to injury or death. Most likely of Brennan because that is where the gun is pointing.

"Why couldn't you have just died in the damn car!?" Thompson asked frustrated. Booth really couldn't tell if Thompson was crazy or not.

"Look, if you just put down the gun, I'm sure that we could figure something out," said Booth trying to calm down Thompson.

"I was done after you! I was certain that you would die! There wasn't enough time but you escaped. You were the only ones to escape."

Booth definitely decided that he was crazy now if not before. He knew he needed to diffuse the situation. He reached around to grab Thompson's arm without alarming him. He was hoping that Thompson was too distracted by Brennan to notice him.

Thompson turned to him, but didn't catch anything. Booth decided to try for his gun instead. He reached around and suddenly Thompson was yelling at Brennan, "You were the only one who could solve it! That's why I took you! Why couldn't you have just died!?"

Brennan looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Booth had no idea what she did but was incredibly worried. Then suddenly the gun went off.

Booth stopped trying to sneak around and pulled his gun and shot two shots. Thompson fell to the ground. He looked up at Booth and pulled his weapon up. Booth fired off two more shots. Thompson's gun fell to ground and his eyes stared up unseeing.

Booth turned. Brennan was on the ground unmoving. He moved towards her and whispered, "Bones."

_A/N: Reviews make me want to update! :)_


	18. Silence and Shock

_A/N: Second to last chapter. We are getting there!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own _Bones.

_Chapter 18: Silence and Shock_

Booth reached down and felt for a pulse on Brennan's neck. Just as he made contact she jerked. She sat up and looked at him.

He saw blood but couldn't tell where it was coming from. He looked at her and asked, "Where were you hit?"

"My shoulder. I think it should be okay," said Brennan. She barely even looked at her injury. She was staring at Thompson.

"What happened?" asked Booth confused. He missed something important and that was what started the gunfight.

Before Brennan could respond two men ran around the corner, "Shit, man, I told you it was gunfire!"

"Dude, call the police."

"Dude, he's still got a gun!"

Booth realized that he did look a little suspicious. So he showed them his badge and introduced himself, "Special Agent Booth, FBI, call an ambulance."

The two men each nodded with a shocked look on their face. They both turned and one pulled out a cell phone. Satisfied that they were helping, Booth turned back to Brennan. He took off his jacket and pressed it into Brennan's shoulder. He held it down with one hand and with the other he pulled out his cell phone and called for backup. He hung up and then tried to find out what happened again. "What happened, Bones? Why did he freak out?"

Brennan shook her head. Booth pressed the jacket further into Brennan's shoulder and she winced. The ambulance arrived and the two paramedics swarmed around Brennan and pushed Booth out of the way. They loaded Brennan into the ambulance but Booth was stuck talking to the backup that had arrived a couple minutes after the paramedics.

Brennan had been swept away by the paramedics and was gone for a good fifteen minutes before Booth could get away. He called Angela and told her what was going on. Then he called Cam. Cam came by and picked up Booth because his car was blocked in by all the emergency vehicles and FBI cars and news vans.

Booth shoved his way through the media and hopped into Cam's car. She sped off in an effort to avoid the media and asked, "Booth, what happened?"

"I don't really know. We got a call about a tip and so we were walking to my car. Then Thompson jumped out from behind a car and went off. He focused most of his attention on Brennan, I don't know if he even knew I was there half the time."

Cam interrupted, "Was he insane? Had he survived, would he have gotten away with it by pleading insanity?"

"I really think that he could have. Anyway, I was focused on getting my gun without alerting Thompson and I missed some of the conversation. Then suddenly he started shooting. I saw Brennan jerk and I pulled out my gun and shot him without a second thought."

Cam looked at him curiously. "What did Brennan say?"

"She didn't say anything. I almost think she was in shock, but that seems really out of character for her."

The rest of the car ride was silent. Cam focused on the road and Booth stared at the blood on his hands. Brennan's blood. Somehow he was certain her getting shot was his fault. He wondered what Brennan had said. Probably something too blunt. She did that a lot.

Cam and Booth walked into the ER and were told that the doctor was looking at Brennan and asked that they take a seat to wait. Booth nodded and then took out his phone to call Russ. He probably should have done that sooner, but he was distracted.

The conversation was short. Russ said he was out of town – legitimately and was not sure when he could make it back but would be on the next flight. Booth was too distracted to even ask where he was.

Booth put his phone back in his pocket and felt a folded piece of paper. Brennan's note to him. He now really _really_ wanted to talk about it. Brennan was in a hospital bed. There would be no way to stop him. Booth smiled. Brennan could find a way, he was sure. But they would talk anyway. She could not just give this to him and expect him never to say anything about it.

After waiting fifteen minutes Angela and Hodgins ran in with Zach running a few steps behind, trying to keep up. They sat down without a word to wait. After twenty-five minutes Booth got up to pace. After an hour Hodgins finally asked what had been bothering him, "The Gravedigger is really dead?"

Booth jumped and turned to him. He nodded. Hodgins looked surprised before sitting back to think about that. He thought about all those sleepless nights and the overtime effort he put in working on his own. It was strange for him to think that it was all over. It was almost like it was a part of him.

After an hour and a half, the doctor finally came out to talk to them. Unfortunately Russ was not there yet and the doctor insisted on talking to family. Booth finally had to waive around his badge to get any answers. They were simple answers. The bullet was a through and through. No permanent damage. Brennan was asleep and no one could disturb her. She could go home tomorrow morning if an infection didn't set in overnight.

Booth did some more badge waiving and a little whining and managed to get them a few minutes with Brennan. They all went in together. Angela ran right up to the bed and squeezed Brennan's inert hand. Cam stood next to the bed and looked worriedly down and Brennan. Zach did not look like he knew what to do. He stood at the foot of the bed awkwardly. Booth stood at Brennan's head protectively. Hodgins however stopped dead at the door and stared. He was having some problems with the whole thing.

He felt guilty for the Gravedigger not touching him this time and hurting Brennan. He felt relief at the end. He felt like he should be lying in the bed next to Brennan. And he felt strangely left out. This whole thing started with him and Brennan and ended with Brennan and Booth. Not that he wanted to get shot or buried alive again. He really was relieved that it was over. There was just a small part of him that resented the fact that he was not there to see the Gravedigger's downfall.

Everyone stood unmoving for ten minutes. Then Hodgins suggested they go. He gathered Zach and Angela and they left, promising to return in the morning.

Cam walked over to Booth after they left and asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Booth nodded.

"If you need anything, please call me."

Booth nodded again.

As Cam walked out, the doctor walked in. Cam nodded to the doctor and said, "Go easy on him. He's having a tough time."

The doctor smiled. Cam left and closed the door. The doctor walked up and stood next to Booth. "She's going to be fine."

"I know."

"You need to leave now though, I'm sorry sir."

Booth turned and looked at her. "Please, let me stay. I won't disturb her or you or the nurses."

The doctor was just about to refuse but remembered Cam's parting words. "It's not completely against the rules for you to stay. I'll get you a cot."

"Thank you."

The doctor nodded and walked out. Booth turned back to Brennan. He just watched the rise and fall of her chest allowing the slow movement to sooth him.

_A/N: Please Review!!_


	19. Release

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who stuck with me and I apologize profusely for it taking so long. This is it. The last chapter. I have ideas rolling around in my head, but I don't want to start anything if I can not make a real commitment to it. Happy Reading!_

_Disclaimer: I still do not own _Bones.

_Chapter 19: Release _

Booth woke up the next morning with a crick in his neck again. He turned his head in an attempt to get rid of it. First to the right. Then to the left and he saw Brennan staring at him.

"Bones! How long have you been awake?" asked Booth surprised. He looked at his watch. 8:37. He slept in.

"I was awake a 7:30. What are you doing in my room?" asked Brennan. She had a dull ache in her shoulder and movement was difficult. She had just sat there and thought about what all this meant. The Gravedigger was gone. She was also having problems grasping that concept.

Booth sat up and said, "I was worried about you Bones. I stayed here to make sure you were okay."

"Didn't the doctor tell you I'd be fine?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes. You know seeing is believing." Booth ended lightheartedly hoping to avoid any more of Brennan's questions. Unfortunately his plan backfired.

"What about faith?"

"Bones, let's not get into this now," said Booth tiredly. He changed the subject, "So has the doctor been in yet?"

"Yeah, she just left five minutes ago."

"And?" Booth prompted.

"And what?"

"Have you been released?"

"Yeah, I was just about to wake you so you could take me home."

"Okay, let's go – oh, I don't have my car."

"Why not?"

"It was blocked in yesterday. I'll call Angela."

Booth pulled out his cell phone and walked out of the room. He walked down the hall and paused to make his call. Brennan sat back down on the bed. She was just sitting there when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

She expected it to be the doctor or maybe Booth. Although why Booth would knock instead of just letting himself in Brennan did not know. Instead it was Thomas Vega. He walked in the room and cleared his throat. "How are you, Dr. Brennan?"

"I'm doing okay."

"How's the wound?"

"Superficial."

There was a pause. Vega looked nervous and Brenna felt as if Booth should be here. Finally Vega spoke again. "I just came by to make sure that you were okay and to congratulate you on solving the Gravedigger case."

"Thank you."

"And, I wanted to ask you again to grant me an interview for an addition to my book."

"Again, I'm going to have to decline."

"May I ask why?"

"Because it was a difficult experience that I don't feel comfortable sharing with the entire world."

"Well, thank you for your time."

"You're welcome."

And Vega left. She leaned back on the bed and thought about how strangely easy that was. Vega came in, asked his question and then left. Then she moved on to thinking about work and wondered what she would do for the two weeks she had to wear a sling.

Vega walked out the door and ran into Booth. "What are you doing here?" Booth asked nastily.

"I wanted to talk to Dr. Brennan."

"Well, you can't."

"I already did."

Booth just glared at him. Vega stared him down for a moment before saying, "Well, I should be leaving now. It was nice working with you Agent Booth."

Booth suddenly realized that there was a good possibility that he would never see Vega again. He did not feel sorry, just a little strange. "Good luck," he said, and surprisingly he meant it.

Vega walked out of the hospital. Booth watched him a minute before turning back to enter Brennan's room. He sat down next to her on the bed. "Angela is leaving right now to pick us up. She'll take us to my car and I'll take you home."

Brennan nodded. That sounded good to her. Booth filled out all the paperwork and then they went outside to wait for Angela. Brennan was reading the instructions the doctor gave her on changing the bandages and then her prescription for antibiotics.

Angela pulled up. Hodgins was in the passenger seat. Angela fussed over Brennan for a couple minutes asking about her new and old injuries before taking them to Booth's car.

Brennan got out of the car and walked over to Booth's car. Angela was on the phone talking to her dad who had called after hearing about what had happened. He wanted to check up on her. Booth was also on the phone with someone from the office. Hodgins walked over to Brennan. They stood silently for a couple of minutes before Hodgins said, "It feels weird."

Brennan nodded.

"Almost like something is missing."

"It's over now. We don't have to worry anymore."

Hodgins nodded. They were silent again for a moment. Again it was Hodgins who broke the silence. "I'm really sorry you got shot."

"It wasn't your fault."

"I feel kind of responsible."

"Don't you had nothing to do with it. Now we don't have to be afraid. We're in good shape." Brennan smiled at Hodgins and he smiled back. Angela walked over quickly followed by Booth.

Brennan promised Angela that she would be fine and Angela said that she would call. Booth and Brennan got into Booth's car and Angela drove off with Hodgins.

They did not leave right away. They observed the crime scene. The tape was still up and there was a cop standing guard and watching a tech go over every inch of pavement. For what Booth did not know.

"Why did Thompson start shooting?"

"Because I said something."

"What?"

Brennan sighed. "He was talking about what he did and how Hodgins and I should have died. He said he would have succeeded too if Hodgins hadn't been there and if you hadn't been so good. Then he said something about killing you two after killing me and I told him that you guys had nothing to do with it. Then he accused me of calling him a liar or something. I disagreed and next thing I know, you are asking me where I was hit."

"You were shot trying to protect me and Hodgins. I should have known."

"Why?"

"That's just who you are."

They sat another moment in the car before Booth turned the key and said, "I need to stop by my apartment real fast, if that's okay."

"Sure."

The drive was silent and when they got to Booth's apartment, Booth led the way saying, "Make yourself at home. I'm going to take a quick shower and change my clothes."

Brennan nodded. Booth opened the door and Brennan made a beeline to the couch and sat down. Booth ran to take a shower. Ten minutes later they were walking back out the door.

"Are you hungry?" asked Booth.

Brennan nodded. "Let's go to the diner."

"Okay," said Booth. He decided that they would discuss the letter there. Booth would make her talk to him.

They sat down and ordered before Booth brought it up.

"Listen, Bones, I know that you don't want to talk about the note that you wrote me, but –"

Brennan cut him off, "Booth –"

Booth shook his head. "I want you to –"

This time he was interrupted by Brennan's cell phone. The conversation was short. When she hung up Booth looked at her questioning.

"Russ finally got a flight back. I tried to tell him I was fine but he insisted on coming. His flight lands in a couple hours."

Booth nodded and then continued on his original thought. "Bones, I really need you to hear me on this one."

Brennan opened her mouth but then closed it and nodded.

Booth took a deep breath and then said, "The note means a lot to me. That you would think of me and I appreciate it."

"Booth really, I –"

"Ah, ah. Let me finish. I just want you to know that I'm always here for you and that I'm really glad that you trust me. I don't want to let you down."

Booth paused and looked at Brennan. She was looking at him, giving him her full attention. He finished up with, "I know that we are partners but I hope that you also think that we are friends and I want you to know that I'd never let anything happen to you."

"Booth, I can take care of myself."

"I know, but I'll be there if you need me."

"Thanks Booth, that means a lot to me."

They smiled at each other and then their food arrived. They laughed and talked for two hours while waiting for Russ. Brennan had called him back and told him to meet them at the diner. When Russ arrived he asked Brennan how she was before the three of them ordered dessert and laughed and talked together like old friends. Things were getting back to normal. Or as normal as it ever got with them.

_FINIS_

_A/N: Again, I thank everyone who stuck with me. Please review and tell me what you think about my story! Happy Reading!!_


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